KOTA KINABALU: The 29-year-old mastermind of a syndicate posing as senior officers from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Home Ministry offering people to "fix" their cases has been remanded for five days.
The MACC obtained the remand order until July 29 from Magistrate Lovely Natasha Charles Monday (July 24) to facilitate investigations into their investigations into the case.
A total of seven suspects were arrested including the mastermind's wife were picked up in connection with the investigations.
Five suspects were released on MACC bail after their statement was recorded.
"The mastermind and another accomplice remain in custody," a MACC source said.
It was learned among the five other suspects released were the mastermind's wife and two suspects whose bank accounts were used to get victims to deposit their money, purportedly as pay-off to resolve outstanding cases.
Syndicate mebers, posing as senior officers, allegedly promised it could close graft cases being investigated by the authorities and cheated their victims of hundreds of thousands of ringgit by offering to "settle" cases, sources said.
The sources said they were cheating the victims and were arrested by MACC and police in separate raids since Friday. All were locals aged between 20 and 30.
The investigators also recovered fake VVIP passes for the Home Ministry and palace as well as government uniforms during the raids.
On Sunday (July 24), Sabah MACC director Datuk S. Karunanithy confirmed the arrests and said the suspects were being investigated for demanding bribes under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009.
He also called on members of the public with information related to this syndicate to come forward and cooperate with the MACC.
He advised the public not to allow third parties to use their bank accounts while cautioning people against believing individuals who introduce themselves as senior public officials from the MACC or senior officers from the Home Ministry offering to resolve their cases.
