PETALING JAYA: An individual bearing the title of ‘Tan Sri’ has been arrested on suspicion of acting as a proxy for the mastermind behind the Mobility Beyond Imagination (MBI) Ponzi scheme.
The 53-year-old Tan Sri was nabbed at around 2am by the side of a road in Penang, according to the New Straits Times, quoting a source.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) acting director Datuk Muhammed Hasbullah Ali, confirmed the arrest and stated that investigations are ongoing.
The man is believed to have assisted in money laundering activities involving proceeds from the MBI scheme.
“The man had just returned to Malaysia,“ the source was quoted as saying.
The suspect is currently being held at Jinjang police central lockup, and police will be seeking a remand order against him.
This Tan Sri is the latest individual to be detained under Op Northern Star, an operation that commenced on April 18.
Previously, five individuals — including another ‘Tan Sri’ and a ‘Datuk Seri’ — were arrested under the same operation for their alleged involvement in a Ponzi scheme operating in a neighbouring country.
To date, assets worth RM3.51 billion have been seized and frozen. These include luxury vehicles, durian orchards, watches, bank accounts, and a hotel.
The founder of MBI Group International, Tedy Teow, dubbed “Jho Low 2”, has been implicated in various fraudulent schemes and is wanted by authorities in Malaysia, China, and Thailand.
Teow is currently in custody in China, having been extradited there after his arrest in Thailand in 2024.
He is believed to have defrauded two million individuals in China, convincing them to invest billions in his scheme.
