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PUTRAJAYA: A huge RM85,000 has been seized from a Macau scam and illegal gambling syndicate, but the bribery busters are now expanding the network to catch more people, including police officers.
Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Commission, which has captured 20 people (including eight police officers and one Chinese national) so far, will make more arrests in the coming days.
Sources say that RM85mil is the tip of the iceberg and the MACC hopes to confiscate more of the illegally obtained profits that will be put into government coffers.
Chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Azam Baki said the bribery busters have crippled the union’s operations by freezing its accounts, 730 of them with RM80 thousand inside these accounts, as well as RM5 thousand in cash.
“When we started investigating this case, we suspected how the union managed to operate freely for years without action being taken against it.
“We later found out that officials from a certain government agency gave them protection,” he said in an interview on MACC.fm.
The sources said the senior officers arrested are from the Selangor and Bukit Aman police headquarters.
MACC investigators also seized 23 luxury cars from various brands – Bentley, Rolls Royce, Lamborghini, Ferrari and Porsche – believed to have been purchased from returns from illegal activities carried out by the individuals.
It is understood that celebrities and famous personalities were among the victims of the scam, and Azam said that some may have known.
or unknowingly accepted money from this union for commercial purposes.
“I hope these people show up instead of us calling them. We already have a list of names, so don’t wait for us to call you, ”he said.
The Macau scam often begins with a phone call from someone posing as an official of a bank, government agency, or debt collection agency.
Azam said that what MACC wants to do is have the millions of ringgit seized in this case be deposited in the government coffers.
“This money is people’s money that the union got by cheating them with their hard-earned money,” he said.
Azam said that after misleading the public with their money, the union’s modus operandi includes setting up shell companies to launder money.
“This is where they help provide capital to those who want to establish businesses or become lenders.
“I urge the public to be cautious, as they could get into trouble if the money used to set up their business comes from this type of illegal activity.
“They can be accused of being involved in money laundering,” he said.
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