China firm loses big to bogus shipment of thousands of M’sian durian
JOHOR BARU: A China-based company recently fell victim to a scam involving the purchase of frozen Musang King durian from Malaysia, incurring financial losses of RM2.6mil.
According to Johor police chief Comm Datuk M. Kumar, a complaint was lodged by the company’s manager, who is a Chinese national.
The manager alleged that another Chinese national convinced his company to use an approved permit (AP) from a Malaysian fruit import-export company to facilitate the import.
“The company met with the suspect in China and agreed to buy 3,840 cartons of frozen Musang King worth 4.3 million yuan,” he said here yesterday.
Comm Kumar added that on July 5, the complainant’s company transferred the 4.3 million yuan (RM2.6mil) to a bank account owned by Malaysian-registered company as instructed by the suspect.
The complainant was also informed that the frozen Musang King durian would be delivered within a month following the payment.
“However, the company has yet to receive the promised shipment. The complainant tried to contact the suspect but did not get a reply.
“The complainant then asked a friend in Malaysia to locate the company that holds the AP.
“However, the company that holds the AP said that they have never conducted any business with the Chinese company,” he added.
Comm Kumar said the complainant then came to Malaysia and lodged a police report.
The case is being investigated under Sections 411 and 420 of the Penal Code.
Comm Kumar said the public should always be vigilant and wary when carrying out business affairs with unknown people.
“Victim should immediately contact the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 to freeze the money in the suspect’s account,” he added.
In an unrelated case, the Johor Immigration Department has detained 57 illegal immigrants in two separate operations around here and Kulai.
Director Datuk Mohd Rusdi Mohd Darus said action was taken following public complaints about the high presence of immigrants believed to be working without legal documentation.
“In the first operation, a team of enforcement personnel carried out checks at nine locations around Senai between 12.15am and 1am yesterday.
“Our team inspected 94 people and detained about 50 of them,” he said in a statement.
He said among those detained were 47 Myanmar nationals, of whom 32 are women, two Nepalese men, and an Indonesian man, aged between 19 and 55 years.
He said that the detainees will face investigations for offenses including overstaying and not having any valid passes or permits to be in Malaysia.
During the second operation, Mohd Rusdi reported that the department detained seven illegal immigrants who were working as roadside burger sellers in the area. This operation took place around 8pm on October 13.
“Those detained are three Bangladeshi men, an Indonesian man and woman, a Myanmar woman, and an Indian man, all of whom are between 25 and 45 years old,” he said.
