97 individuals arrested over alleged involvement in 'Macau Scam'

KUALA LUMPUR: Police arrested 97 individuals for their alleged involvement in the "Macau Scam" at Juru and Prai in Penang yesterday.
Federal police Commercial Crimes Investigations Department (CCID) director Commissioner Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said the separate raids were initiated following a public tip off.

"Nine locals, 65 Chinese male nationals, 22 Chinese female nationals and a Taiwanese man aged between 20 and 30 were arrested in the raids.

"The raids were conducted from 12am to 5pm by the Federal and Penang CCID teams," Acryl Sani said in a statement today.

He said preliminary investigations found that the suspects operate their syndicate in a bungalow and three separate factories in the city as their hub in order to avoid police detection.

He said their modus operandi involves posing as bank officers and police personnel and calling up potential victims who had financial and legal problems, before requesting the victim to transfer some money to resolve their issues.

"The phone calls are made via Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP)," he added.

Police also seized several equipment used by the syndicate namely telephone units, computer gadgets and four cars worth RM400,000.

The suspects will be remanded at Bukit Mertajam court today.