Macau scam: 77 individuals including Chinese, Taiwanese nationals detained - Bukit Aman

A total of 76 Chinese and Taiwanese nationals, and a local man, were rounded-up yesterday on suspicion of being involved in the Macau Scam syndicate.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director, Datuk Seri Mortadza Nazarene said the foreigners, comprising 56 men and 20 women, with 40 of them Taiwanese nationals, were detained in raids conducted simultaneously at three locations in the Klang Valley and Negeri Sembilan.

A total of 25 policemen from the Cyber and Multimedia Criminal Division and CCID in Bukit Aman were involved in the raids conducted in Taman Melawati Indah and Taman Sri Ukay in Hulu Klang and Seremban, he said when contacted on Saturday.

He said the syndicate operated from bungalow and double-storey terraced houses equipped with high-speed internet.

The syndicate targeted Chinese and Taiwanese nationals, he said, adding that that victims were deceived by syndicate members posing as bank officials or police officers who would ask the victims to settle their bank loans or credit card payments.

In a related development, police arrested 21 Chinese nationals and a local man, aged between 21 to 43 years, in a raid on a bungalow at Persiaran Nuri, Bayan Lepas Friday night.

A team from Bukit Aman, Penang and Barat Daya CCID raided the bungalow at about 9.15pm and found 22 individuals, including a woman in the house.

"The Chinese citizens are believed to be syndicate operators while the local man is their food caterer," he told Bernama Saturday.

Police conducted the raid after their Chinese counterpart provided the IP address following complaints from its citizens who had been tricked by the Macau Scam, he said.

All the suspects were being remanded for investigations under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

Meanwhile, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar via Twitter congratulated Bukit Aman and Penang CCID for their success in crippling the Macau Scam syndicate.