KUCHING: Police have received four reports on the fraud cases involving 40 Sarawakian victims who were recently released from a Cambodian provincial jail.
Head of Sarawak Commercial Crime Investigations Department Supt Mustafa Kamal Gani Abdullah said the first report was made by one of the victims at the Sarawak police contingent headquarters at 12.43pm today.
“Regarding the issue of Malaysians being detained in Cambodia, this case is being investigated by the Commercial Crime Investigations Department of Sarawak.
“And so far, we have received four police reports made by the victims,” he said in a statement.
Mustafa added that the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
A group of 47 Malaysians were detained at the Banteay Meanchey Provincial Prison in Cambodia prior to their release last Friday following several negotiations between the governments of Cambodia and Malaysia.
They, who were arrested in city of Poipet, Banteay Meanchey province in western Cambodia on Dec 11 last year over alleged involvement in illegal online gambling, aged between 19 and 44.
These Malaysians were believed to have been tricked by the syndicate’s cunning tactics that targeted at poor families.
The decision to release the 47 was recently announced by Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen after having determined that the detainees were deceived by the syndicate serving as job agents.
Forty of the 47 Malaysian victims are Sarawakians.
These 40 Sarawakians arrived at the Kuching International Airport VIP Terminal on Sunday, together with three other former detainees from Sabah.
All of them departed the Cambodia’s Siem Reap International Airport at 10.35am after boarding a chartered carrier with Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah and Santubong MP Dato Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
International non-governmental organisations (NGOs) chairman Datuk Dr Mustapha Ahmad Marican and Cambodian Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Oknha Datuk Dr Othsman Hassan sent them off at the Siem Reap International Airport.