BUKIT Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf announced the arrest of a 24-year-old man with expertise in information technology on December 25 last year.

The suspect is accused of hacking into a government agency’s data and selling it on the dark web. Ramli said the individual had sold data sets for US$200 (RM926.90) each, with cryptocurrency as the accepted form of payment.

“We successfully traced the man thanks to the efficiency of the CCID Cryptocurrency Crime Investigation Unit.

“The investigation also found that the suspect was just ‘dabbling’ in this crime and does not have any criminal record,” he said.

Ramli said the man was released on police bail on December 29 and the case was being investigated under section 4(1) of the Computer Crimes Act 1997.

Meanwhile, police investigated four cases of criminal breach of trust involving RM9.7 million in zakat collection, with two cases in Selangor and one case each in Terengganu and Perak throughout 2023.

“The Perak case recorded the highest loss at RM9.6 million. In this case, the company appointed as a zakat collection agent by the Perak Religious and Malay Customs Council is suspected of having failed to deposit zakat collection money from March to September 2023.

“The case was investigated under section 409 of the Penal Code. It is very disheartening when zakat money is also misappropriated by the individuals entrusted to collect the money,” he said.

“Zakat collection money should be properly managed following the requirements of the religion.

“CCID gives a stern warning to the perpetrators that firm action will be taken to ensure that this kind of crime does not happen again,” he said. – Bernama, January 4, 2024.