Police bust Touch 'n Go syndicate

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have thwarted a "Touch 'n Go" forgery syndicate in Penang and have arrested five individuals who were running the scam.
Acting on intelligence received, Bukit Aman's Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) raided a warehouse on Aug 9 in Jalan Juru, Bukit Mertajam Pulau Pinang which was suspected to be the headquarters of the syndicate.
Of the five arrested in the raid, 4 were local men and the other was an Indonesian national. They were aged between 29 to 55 years old.
"The five who were arrested were acting as the leaders of the syndicate, the system programmers and agents or dealers who are selling these cards to the public," said federal police Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani.
Also seized in the raid were about 264 'Touch 'n Go' cards which were valued at more than RM200,000, together with two cars and proxmark software, among others.
Acryl that based on initial investigations, this syndicate has been running for three months and has made illicit profits of RM500,000.
He explained that there were two modus operandi that were used, namely forged cards and illegally reloading authentic 'Touch 'n Go' cards to values of RM100 to RM1000 using software.
"These cards would then be sold on the market for discounts of 20% to 30%," he said in a statement today.
He added that the case will be investigated under section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery or property and Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Act 613).
All suspects have been remanded for four days from the date of arrest.