KUALA LUMPUR: A 49-year-old company director claims to have lost about RM1.9mil after being allegedly defrauded by a law firm.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said the victim lodged a police report on Sept 11.
"She claimed that her company hired the Kuala Lumpur-based law firm to handle four civil claims against her in 2022.
"Last year, the court issued a Mareva injunction on assets owned by the victim.
"The owner of the law firm allegedly offered to transfer the victim's funds to himself while the civil case was ongoing. The victim agreed," Comm Ramli told a press conference at CCID headquarters here on Tuesday (Sept 24).
The transferred funds and valuables were worth RM1.9mil, he added.
"At the end of last year, the victim decided to terminate the law firm's services and asked the suspect to return her money and valuables.
"The suspect failed to do so, giving various excuses.
"The victim believes that he used her funds for personal reasons.
"We are investigating the matter under Section 409 of the Penal Code for criminal breach of trust," he said.
In a second case, Comm Ramli said an 81-year-old man alleged he was cheated of RM438,000 by another law firm.
"The victim, the director of a construction company, lodged a report on Friday (Sept 20) claiming that the law firm had swindled him over a civil case.
"He claimed that his company hired the law firm in 2009 to handle a lawsuit filed by his company against another firm.
"In August this year, the victim contacted the law firm to inquire about the case but the lawyer failed to produce any court documents," he said.
Comm Ramli said the victim checked and discovered that the company being sued had been ordered to file for bankruptcy in 2012.
"The Insolvency Department made a payment of RM438,397 to the suspect's law firm over the suit filed by the victim's company.
"The suspect has failed to hand over the funds to the victim," he added.
