Mohd Sakri (second right) and his officers show the seized cash during a press conference. — Bernama photo
KUALA LUMPUR: Police have detained two Nigerian students over their alleged involvement in an ‘African Scam’ syndicate.
Federal Police (Bukit Aman) Commercial Crimes Department (Operations and Intelligence) deputy director SAC Mohd Sakri Arifin said the suspects, aged 26 and 33, were picked up separately at an apartment in Setapak and in front of a shop in Jalan Genting Klang about 4pm last Monday.
“Police seized a laptop, a mobile phone, five ATM cards of various banks and US$59,900 (RM256,042.55) in cash, all of which are believed to be part of the proceeds from their criminal activities,” he told a press conference here yesterday.
Mohd Sakri said the arrests came about when a septuagenarian American citizen lodged a police report claiming that she had lost almost RM1 million to the scam after she was contacted by a man via Facebook in February, to invest in a business with good returns.
“The 77-year-old woman told that the man, who claimed to be an engineer in Malaysia and to have been involved in the construction of roads and petrol stations, instructed her to send the cash to this country via courier several times.
“The last time the victim sent her money to the suspect was on July 20. She realised that she was cheated when the suspect did not show up in (what supposed to be) a meeting in Puchong, Selangor to find out on the progress of her investment during her visit to Malaysia recently,” he said.
Mohd Sakri said the foreigners were being remanded for four days until Saturday to facilitate investigations. — Bernama