PUTRAJAYA: A police inspector who was investigating money laundering involving the Wang Kelian trafficking camps revealed to the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) that at least two Malaysians were involved in the syndicate by receiving ransom from victims’ families.
Former Bukit Aman Anti-Money Laundering Division investigation officer Inspector Mohd Suffian Abdul Rashid said the Malaysians had received money from family members of those held at the transit camps, both on the Malaysian and Thailand sides of the border, to see their releases.
One of them, “Ku Hamid Ku Musa”, was previously arrested by the police to assist in investigations, while the other suspect, “Ariffin Abdullah Ali”, is still on the loose.
Mohd Suffian said in October 2015, his division was given a list of names suspected to be involved in the syndicate, three of which were Malaysians who used their bank accounts for the transfer of ransom money, while the remaining six were Thais who were believed to be camp guards.
However, upon investigation, they only managed to trace illegal activities back to the accounts of Ku Hamid and Ariffin, with the police not finding any lead on the third Malaysian, “Zubaidah Abdul Razak”.
The Thai citizens did not possess any local bank accounts, he added.
According to Mohd Suffian, RM4,000 was deposited into Ku Hamid’s Public Bank account by a Myanmar citizen known as “Abdul Hamid” on Oct 2, 2014, for the release of one of his relatives held captive at the Wang Kelian camp.
“As for Ariffin, on Nov 25, 2014, there were two transactions through a cash deposit machine transferring a total of RM5,800 to his CIMB account. The sum was transferred by a Rohingyan, one Zaidul Islam, for the release of his uncle held in a camp on the Thailand side of the border” he said, here, today.
Mohd Suffian said the police have since frozen both bank accounts, and all the money kept in there — RM19,800 belonging to Ku Hamid and RM270 to Ariffin — have also been forfeited to the government in June 2017.
He added that a Mitsubishi Triton belonging to Ku Hamid, the down payment of which was believed to be purchased with illicit money, was also seized, and a bond was offered to him amounting to RM21,700, before it was exchanged with a cheque that was later forfeited to the government.
Mohd Suffian’s testimony corroborates Perlis Special Branch protective security (E6) coordinating officer ASP Wan Ahmad Hamirudeen Wan Ahmad’s statement previously that the SB managed to trace information and evidences obtained from the camps to a local bank account.
