Johor police nab 67 alleged Macau scammers

JOHOR BARU: Sixty-seven Chinese nationals were detained for suspected involvement in the Macau Scam during a raid at a shophouse along Jalan Eco Cascadia, Taman Ecoperniagaan here on Friday.
South Johor Baru Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) conducted the raid with Iskandar Putri CCID, following a public tip off.
Johor police chief Datuk Mohd Khalil Kader Mohd said the suspects comprised 59 men and eight women aged between 19 and 38.
He said initial investigations found that the syndicate had set up an operation centre in Malaysia to target victims in China.
"The syndicate's modus operandi is more about online lottery sale and gambling and we have also sought assistance from Bukit Aman, apart from contacting Interpol and the Chinese police," he told reporters here, today.
Mohd Khalil said the suspects failed to produce valid identification documents believed to be kept by the syndicate's mastermind.
"We are still gathering information and carrying out investigations to identify the syndicate's mastermind as all arrested are believed to have entered the country legally using their passports.
"The investigation also found that the syndicate has been operating at the premises for the past one month and we are looking for the tenant of the premises. We also face communication (language) problems with the suspects," he said.
Mohd Khalil said the police also seized 100 sets of computers, four laptops, six units of Wifi modems/ routers, 71 mobile phones, two Local Area Network (LAN) Switchports and several documents during the raid.
He said the suspects were remanded for 14 days until July 6 to assist in the investigation, under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and Section 6 (3) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for not having valid passport. — Bernama