Abang Nuzaren Abang Fauzi
KUCHING: Police are searching for a local man wanted for allegedly cheating another man of RM500,000 over a 10-year period involving the transfer of ownership of a piece of land.
District police chief ACP Abang Ahmad Abang Julai said the 59-year-old victim had initially purchased an untitled piece of land at a village here prior to being approached by the suspect, who offered to facilitate the transfer of ownership so that he (the victim) could obtain the land title.
“After several meetings and discussions with the suspect over the matter, the victim agreed to the suspect’s offer to handle the transfer of ownership using a back channel instead of going through the proper procedure with the Land and Survey Department,” he said in a statement.
The victim deposited money in stages into three different local bank accounts between 2004 and 2014 apart from personally handing over cash to the suspect to facilitate the supposed transfer.
After 10 years of making payments to the tune of half a million ringgit, it finally dawned on the victim that he was being taken for a ride after the ownership of the said piece of land has yet to be transferred to him, leading him to lodge a police report.
“Following the report, district Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) personnel began probing the case under Section 420 of the Penal Code, and subsequently arrested the female owners of the three bank accounts.
“Investigations later found that the three women had been duped by the suspect into allowing their names to be used to open the accounts to receive the money deposited by the victim,” said Abang Ahmad.
He added the suspect, identified as Abang Nuzaren Abang Fauzi, had since gone into hiding and yet to resurface despite raids being conducted at several addresses linked to him.
“My advice to the public is not to be fooled by sweet promises of those claiming to be able to help in the transfer of land ownership using the back channel instead of going through the proper procedure set by the Land and Survey Department.”
Those with information regarding the whereabouts of Abang Nuzaren are urged to contact the investigating officer Inspector Fatimatul Hazimah Haron at 019-7118105 or Intelligence and Operations officer Inspector Mohd Hafizi Arifin at 012-5140622.