RM600,000 suspect back in police lock-up

KUALA LUMPUR: A 28-year-old alleged thief held over a RM600,000 theft at a bank here last month, is expected to remain in police custody for an extended duration of time.
This follows police reports lodged by more than 30 people who had fallen victim to the man who was arrested in Malacca on Oct 3.
Sources say the probe on the bank theft is almost complete and the suspect was re-arrested yesterday after his week-long remand order expired.
He is expected to be sent to several states in the coming weeks to be investigated for a string of theft cases he had pulled off in the past.
Sources said during the course of investigations, records showed that the man was arrested during his teens on four occasions for theft.
However, the suspect is believed to have escaped prosecution due to lack of evidence or on other technical grounds.
The cases were reported in the Klang Valley and Penang more than 10 years ago.
It is also learnt that investigators are exasperated as the suspect has remained defiant in revealing the whereabouts of the remaining cash he stole from the bank – a sum of over RM500,000.
On Sept 8, armed with just a piece of paper, he posed as a fire extinguisher technician and made off with RM600,000 from a bank in Damansara, leaving staff of the place dumbfounded by the slick and cool manner he had pulled off the theft.
theSun learnt that the suspect, who hails from an oil palm plantation in Karak and is married to a university graduate, is the father of an infant and a toddler.
He apparently dropped out of school at age 13 and did odd jobs.
However, not long after, he allegedly began his shady life nicking things for pocket money and to supplement the household income.
It has also been learnt that the suspect was not avaricious or fancied luxury items.
It is learnt that while he kept enough of his ill-gotten earnings for his basic needs and that of his family, he gave most of it away to the needy, paying off their debts or relieving them of their financial burden.