KUANTAN: Police have arrested a local businessman in connection with the “missing” diamond and ruby ring, worth RM2.89 million, from a jewellery outlet in Genting Highlands, last Sunday.
Pahang Commercial Criminal Investigation Department head Supt Mohd Wazir Mohd Yusof said the businessman, aged 46 and from Kuching, Sarawak, was arrested in Bentong, near here, at 4.30pm yesterday.
He said the suspect, who deals with imported goods from China, also operates a budget hotel in the federal capital, as well as provides luxury car rental service through the WeChat application.
“The suspect is believed to know the two key suspects in the case as they had used his luxury car rental service a few times to Genting Highlands, including on the day of the incident, as well as to send them to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport a few hours later.
“The local businessman had also followed the (key) suspects to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, on Sunday, but decided to return to Malaysia on Tuesday after finding them (key suspects) not in the hotel (in Vietnam),” he told reporters, here today.
Following the arrest of the suspect, Mohd Wazir said police were taken to a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, where the key suspects were alleged to have stayed, but the footage of a closed circuit television camera at the hotel did not have their image and there was no record of them being registered as guests there.
He said the police would request for an order to remand the businessman for further investigation today.
Based on media reports, a Chinese national in his 50s went to the jewellery shop at 12.50pm last Sunday and asked to have a look at the ring.
The man examined the ring for about 20 minutes and said he was not interested in it and left.
However, an employee noticed that the ring differed slightly from the one that was shown to the ‘prospective customer’ and asked a colleague to test it and it was found to be a fake. — Bernama
