5 Arrested for Tricking Elderly Victims into Handing Over Their Valuables to Chase Off Ghosts

Four women from China and a local man were arrested by the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) after they were believed to be involved in a shaman fraud syndicate in Penang.

According to a report by Sinar Harian, the arrest was made by a team from the Penang Commercial Crime Investigation Department (JSJK) at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) when the members of the syndicate had attempted to flee to China.

Penang Deputy Chief of Police Datuk Fisol Salleh shared that the syndicate had been active in fraudulent activities since January, where they targeted the elderly who went to public markets to purchase daily necessities.

The fake shamans would then deceive the victim with the sales of medicine and rituals that supposedly can cure diseases, and by using tricks to escape with the victims’ valuables.

“Syndicate members will approach the victim and offer medicine to treat chronic diseases before giving the phone number for the treatment. Before the treatment, the victim will be convinced by the syndicate members to remove all valuables from the house including money and jewellery for a prayer ceremony to ward off ghosts.”

“The valuables kept in a box were handed over to the syndicate and will be returned after the ceremony is over, but they were given a condition not to open the box for a certain period,” he said.

This image is for illustration purposes only.

After the set period, victims found the boxes contained mineral bottles and bricks.

The results of the investigation into the syndicate found that they were involved in 5 cases reported here this year, involving a loss of RM124,400. In fact, the syndicate was also found to have used the same modus operandi in Johor in February.

The foreign suspects have previously entered Malaysia several times using tourist visas.

This case is now being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.

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