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KUALA LUMPURA syndicate of currency scams (forex) that defrauded its investors out of about 21 million ringgit was arrested by the police last week with the arrest of 10 people.
The syndicate, which has been active since the beginning of last year, had lured its victims by promising returns of between 5% and 8% under a bogus investment scheme called EssenceFX.
The suspects consisted of eight men and two women between the ages of 25 and 42.
Among them was the mastermind of the union, known as Joe Kedah, and his foreign girlfriend, who were arrested in Shah Alam.
Police also seized 10 luxury cars from the suspects and other items such as cell phones, laptops, computers, and cash.
The director of the Federal Department of Commercial Crime Investigations (CCID), Comm Datuk Zainuddin Yaacob, said the suspects were arrested in four raids carried out by police here and in Cyberjaya, Kajang and Shah Alam on Thursday.
He said police received 72 reports against the union after its victims were no longer able to access their online accounts earlier this year.
In another case, Zainuddin said police also arrested a union recruiting “bank account mules” for the illegal activities of scammers.
He said that earlier this month, the CCID arrested 10 suspects, including three women and seven men ages 20 and 32, at various locations in the Klang Valley.
Zainuddin said the scammers targeted low-income and unemployed people, paying them between RM500 and RM1,500 to open bank accounts and deliver all related documents, such as ATM cards and account books.
The union then sold the mule accounts for between RM2,000 and RM3,500 to online scammers to use to collect payments from victims.
Zainuddin said the union raised more than RM 10,000 a month.
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