The Selangor royal aide who wasn’t: Man nabbed over RM1.42m car and property scam

SHAH ALAM, Oct 28 — Police have arrested a man suspected of being the mastermind behind a vehicle and property sale scam in which photographs of the Raja Muda of Selangor were allegedly misused, with total losses estimated at RM1.42 million.

Selangor police chief Datuk Shazeli Kahar said the 40-year-old suspect was arrested in Johor Bahru at about 5 pm yesterday following continuous intelligence gathering into 26 police reports received nationwide since 2023.

“During the arrest, the suspect was found hiding at a residential property belonging to an acquaintance in Johor, which is believed to have served as his hideout after he went missing on October 13.

“Also arrested were two siblings who were acquaintances of the suspect — a 26-year-old woman in Shah Alam, followed by her 27-year-old brother in Johor Bahru — after they were suspected of conspiring to hide him,” he told a press conference at the Selangor police headquarters here today.

Shazeli said further investigations found that the suspect used the same modus operandi with each victim, posing as an aide-de-camp to the Raja Muda of Selangor before offering properties of various categories and vehicles for sale.

He said investigations also found that the self-employed suspect had no affiliation with or official appointment at any palace or the Selangor royal institution.

“In Selangor alone, 15 police reports have been lodged, involving losses amounting to RM960,020. The suspect is believed to have been active since 2023, with victims also reported outside Selangor, including in Kuala Lumpur, Kedah, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Perlis.

“Police are now applying for remand orders for all the suspects under Section 420 of the Penal Code to assist in investigations. The case is still being investigated in detail to determine whether any remaining members of the group or accomplices are still at large,” he said.

In a separate development, Shazeli said the Selangor Commercial Crime Investigation Department had dismantled online scam syndicates with the arrest of 58 individuals in raids conducted from October 20 to 26.

“All those arrested, aged between 20 and 50, comprised eight local men and 50 foreign nationals — 45 men and five women — most of whom originated from East Asia.

“Cross-checks are being conducted with the Immigration Department to verify their documents, and preliminary investigations found that all had entered the country through legal entry points,” he said.

He said all the suspects worked as customer service operators involved in investment scams, love scams and fake job offers, targeting victims overseas, including in Europe and East Asia, since August.

Shazeli said police also seized various communication devices worth RM228,000 during the operation, including 117 mobile phones, 21 desktop computers, 16 laptops, eight routers or modems, two iPads and two central processing units.

All the suspects have been remanded under Sections 420 and 120B of the Penal Code, with varying remand periods. — Bernama

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莎阿南，10月28日讯——警方逮捕了一名男子，他涉嫌策划一起车辆和房产销售诈骗案，据称雪兰莪州王储的照片被滥用，总损失估计达142万令吉。

雪兰莪州警察总长拿督沙泽利·卡哈尔表示，警方自2023年以来在全国范围内收到26份报案，经过持续的情报收集，于昨天下午5点左右在柔佛新山逮捕了这名40岁的嫌疑人。

“逮捕过程中，嫌疑人被发现藏匿在柔佛州一名熟人的住宅内，据信这是他10月13日失踪后的藏身之处。

“此外，还有两名与嫌疑人相识的兄妹被捕——一名26岁的女子在莎阿南被捕，随后是她27岁的哥哥在柔佛新山被捕——他们涉嫌合谋窝藏嫌疑人，”他今天在雪兰莪州警察总部举行的新闻发布会上说。

沙泽利表示，进一步调查发现，嫌疑人对每位受害者都使用了相同的作案手法，冒充雪兰莪州王储的副官，然后兜售各种类型的房产和车辆。

他说，调查还发现，这名自雇嫌疑人与任何宫殿或雪兰莪皇家机构都没有任何关联或官方任命。

“仅在雪兰莪州，警方就接到了 15 起报案，涉及的损失高达 960,020 令吉。据信，嫌疑人自 2023 年以来一直活跃，受害者也分布在雪兰莪州以外的地区，包括吉隆坡、吉打州、霹雳州、森美兰州和玻璃市州。

他说：“警方目前正根据《刑法》第420条申请对所有嫌疑人进行还押候审，以协助调查。案件仍在详细调查中，以确定是否还有该团伙的其他成员或同伙在逃。”

另据报道，雪兰莪州商业犯罪调查局在 10 月 20 日至 26 日的突击行动中逮捕了 58 人，捣毁了多个网络诈骗团伙。

“所有被捕者年龄在 20 岁到 50 岁之间，其中包括 8 名当地男子和 50 名外国公民——45 名男性和 5 名女性——其中大部分来自东亚。

他说：“我们正在与移民局进行交叉核查，以核实他们的文件，初步调查发现，他们都是经由合法入境点进入该国的。”

他说，所有嫌疑人都是客服人员，他们参与投资诈骗、爱情诈骗和虚假招聘活动，目标受害者来自海外，包括欧洲和东亚，作案时间从8月开始。

沙泽利表示，警方在行动中还缴获了价值 22.8 万令吉的各种通讯设备，包括 117 部手机、21 台台式电脑、16 台笔记本电脑、8 个路由器或调制解调器、2 台 iPad 和 2 个中央处理器。

所有嫌疑人均已根据《刑法》第420条和第120B条被还押候审，还押期限各不相同。——马新社

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