More and more everyday, Malaysians are losing faith in what once were deemed noble and honourable titles and ranks, Datuk and Datuk Seri. These days, such titles are often associated with crime and corruption.
Berita Harian shared that man with the title ‘Datuk’ was among 10 Malaysians arrested for their involvement in a forex investment scam syndicate that has been active since 2018. Though, for the syndicate operations, the Datuk had disguised himself as a ‘Datuk Seri’.
The police had received 23 reports, believed to be linked to the forex investment fraud syndicate, involving losses of RM2.94 million.
Among the items that were confiscated were luxury cars worth a total of RM4.6 million, including 2 Toyota Vellfires, a Mercedes Benz C200, a Lamborghini, a Porsche Taycan 4S, a BMW X3, a Toyota Aplhard, a Volkswagen Jetta and a Bentley.
The authorities also confiscated 64 watches worth RM98.9 million, 4 5kg gold bars worth RM1.45 million, an Ex-Police Association card, cryptocurrencies amounting to RM21.4 million and cash worth RM100,800.
There were also a bunch of what looks like luxury bags, laptops, tablets and phones.
“The total value of the seizure is RM126.9 million. The investigation found that the mastermind is a ‘Datuk’, but used the title of ‘Datuk Seri’ to carry out the syndicate’s operations. We are also seeking confirmation on whether the suspect has served as a policeman, following the seizure of the association card.”
“Further investigation also found that those detained were in the roles of brokers, investor search agents, financial managers and account holders.” said Director of the Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (JSJK), Datuk Mohd Kamarudin Md Din.
How did they function?
The syndicate had targeted locals by promoting investments with a weekly rate of return of between 12% to 14% of the total capital invested.
Investors would be given an investment web link with a password and can see the amount of profit received after registering with the website. But, the profits cannot be transferred or redeemed and the syndicate would then cut contact with the investors.
It’s truly saddening to see how Datuks can live such luxurious lifestyles while committing crimes and scamming money out of innocent Malaysians.
This case is currently being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code, the Anti -Money Laundering and Anti -Terrorism Financing Act 2001 and the Prevention of Crime Act (POCA) 1959.
May justice be served for the innocent Malaysians who lost money to this scam.
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