Fifteen police officers and personnel have been arrested for extorting money from foreign online fraud suspects.
KUALA LUMPUR: Fifteen police officers and personnel have been arrested over their alleged involvement in an extortion case, where they demanded money from a group of foreign individuals suspected of online fraud.
Kuala Lumpur Police Chief Datuk Fadil Marsus (pic) said the arrests were made following a police report from a foreign man, through a joint operation by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Kuala Lumpur Police Contingent Headquarters and the Dang Wangi District Police Headquarters.
He said the victim, a 30-year-old foreign man, along with two female friends, claimed to have been attacked by a group of 12 to 15 individuals who introduced themselves as police on July 24 at a condominium in Jalan Ampang.
“The complainant and his two female friends were then taken to the Kuala Lumpur IPK on charges of carrying out online fraud activities for the local and Chinese markets. While at the Kuala Lumpur IPK, two police officers allegedly asked the complainant to transfer a sum of money into an account provided to avoid being arrested. The frightened complainants complied with the instructions before they were all released,” he said in a statement today.
All 15 officers and personnel were detained to assist the investigation under Section 384 of the Penal Code for extortion and were released on police bail.
Following further investigation into the online fraud, a police team from Dang Wangi IPD arrested the male complainant, a Vanuatu national, along with two women, a Chinese and a Thai national, yesterday. However, an inspection found that the complainant was actually a Chinese national wanted by Interpol for online fraud, and possessed a passport listing his place of birth as Pontianak, Indonesia, while Interpol records confirmed he was born in China.
“An inspection of the Thai woman found that her travel documents were valid and she was released, while the complainant and another Chinese woman who was the complainant’s girlfriend are now being remanded for 14 days until August 9 for investigation further,” he said.
The investigation into the victim, who is also a suspect in the online fraud, is being conducted under Section 12(1)(b) of the Passport Act 1966 as well as Section 56(1)(l) and Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.
Fadil stressed that the police view the incident seriously and will not compromise any officer or member involved in the crime. He advised the public not to speculate and to contact the Kuala Lumpur Police Hotline at 03-2115 9999 with any information.
