POLICE nabbed 50 people allegedly involved in the Pelican-Macau Scam that duped people of their money by impersonating bank and police officers.

State commercial crime investigation department chief Assistant Commissioner Abdul Ghani Ahmad said the suspects – 47 men and three women aged between 17 and 42 – were detained at a bungalow in Taman Damai Utama in Puchong on Saturday.

The house, he said, was a training centre for the syndicate’s members where they learned how to talk to victims and cheat them before they were sent overseas.

“They were trained locally and then sent abroad in different groups to Cambodia, Thailand, Japan and other Asian countries where they operated.

“Their targets are fellow Malaysians believed to be randomly picked,” Ghani told a press conference at Penang police headquarters today.

He said initial investigations found that the syndicate had been operating since February this year, with members impersonating Hong Leong bank employees and Penang commercial crime investigation department police officers.

“Most of the people we detained had already gone overseas before for this cheating operation. We had been watching them for a month before the arrests,” he said.

Ghani said the arrests were following a report by a victim, who said she was told to contact Bank Negara Malaysia and the Penang commercial crime investigation department for verification that her bank account had been misused.

“The victim received a call from a suspect claiming to be a bank officer. The suspect had her name and bank account details, and he told her that her account had been used to make a loan and she had to furnish the repayment.

“The victim denied taking the loan. The suspect then told her to contact Bank Negara and gave her a number to call.

“The victim then contacted a second suspect, who pretended to be with the central bank. This second suspect then told the victim that her account had been used for criminal activities and must be frozen for investigations.”

It was after the fake Bank Negara call that the victim was told to talk to the Penang police for further verification.

“The victim was told to contact a third suspect, who pretended to be a police officer from the state commercial crime department. The fake cop further convinced the victim that her account had been used for criminal purposes.

“This third suspect then told the victim to move her money from her account into another account to prevent the funds from being seized. The victim was told which account to transfer her money to.

“The suspects would also promise their victims that their money would be returned in seven days after the investigations were completed. But by then, they could no longer be contacted by the victims,” Ghani said.

He said police had also seized five smartphones, a laptop, three files containing copies of MyKads belonging to the syndicate’s staff, three sets of documents containing passport copies – each labelled according to Groups A, B and C – 31 passports, and a set of handwritten scripts for those pretending to be bank and police officers.

“The suspects detained will be taken to the Balik Pulau court tomorrow for a remand extension to assist investigation under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating,” he said.

Ghani said the police was still identifying the mastermind behind the syndicate and whether there were more members currently overseas.

He also said 82 victims had lodged reports around the country after being duped by the syndicate with total losses amounting to over RM2.74 million.

He urged the public not to fall for such suspicious phone calls or messages by people claiming to be from banks.

“Never let others use your bank accounts, even if they offer to pay you. If you suspect something is not right, immediately contact the police and Bank Negara,” he said. – July 3, 2017.