Malaysia Crime Watch

13 January 2009
George Town

5 people were arrested and over RM480,000 worth of gold were recovered by the police believed to be involved in the RM1.4 million goldsmith shop heist in Jelutong on 29 December 2008.

On that day, the 22-year-old director of the shop was walking towards her car after returning from the night market along Jalan Van Praagh when she was abducted at knife point by two men. She was driven in the her car to her shop where they forced her to open a safe deposit containing 8 1kg gold ingots worth RM769,000, 5kg of gold jewellery worth RM497,000 and USD$20,300 cash. The suspects then took off with her car, two mobile phones and a laptop.

On 6 January 2009 at 3:30pm, police detained a man at a house in Bagan Ajam, Butterworth, and seized a 1kg gold bar worth RM99,000.

The arrest of the first suspect led police to three men and a woman in Bandar Baru Air Itam and Pulau Tikus on the same day. They found USD$1,620 cash and RM23,000 cash at the Bandar Baru Air Itam house. 3kg of gold worth RM300,000 have been found to be melted and believed to have been stolen from a jewellery shop along Jalan Mesjid Kapitan Keling on 8 January 2009. Police suspect that the melted gold was meant to be sold to an illegal gold trading syndicate.

The victim’s Toyota Vios car was recovered from a car park at the Penang Hospital on 8 January 2009.

The authorities have launched a manhunt for the remaining suspect still at large while the five arrested would be charged today.

The Star Online – RM1.4mil goldsmith shop heist solved with arrest of five people
<URL:http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/1/13/nation/3007767&sec=nation>

New Straits Times Online – RM400,000 stolen gold recovered, five held
<URL:http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Tuesday/National/2451392/Article/index_html>

Technorati Tags: malaysia crime, malaysia, crime, george town, jelutong, robbery, heist, goldsmith, jalan van praagh, gold

10 January 2009
Tawau

15 people including 2 women were arrested on Friday during a raid in Taman Masaic, Tanjung Batu, at 2am on suspicion that they were part of a syndicate that has been cheating people into believing that they had won prizes via the short messaging service (SMS).

The suspects, aged between 23 and 35 years old, were all Indonesians except for one who was a Malaysian and are believed to have been involved in 115 cheating cases worth RM1.9 million since 2006. A woman and her 2-month-old baby were found with no valid travel documents. Police seized 56 mobile phones, 17 bank savings account books, 7 Indonesian passports, 8 Indonesian border passes, a television set, 33 bank ATM cards, RM7,000 cash and 2 million Indonesian rupiah cash.

The syndicate works by sending out SMS to victims informing them that they had won prizes sponsored by Petronas, Shell and Akademi Fantasia and had to wire transfer money into a bank account to claim the prizes. The bank accounts used by the syndicate were usually owned by rural people who were willing to give them their ATM cards in return for cash. Sometimes, the syndicate even helped the rural people to open bank accounts with ATM cards.

The suspects are being held under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

The Star Online – SMS cheating syndicate crippled
<URL:http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/1/10/nation/20090110152313&sec=nation>

The Star Online – Syndicate using SMS trick crippled, 15 held
<URL:http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/1/11/nation/2995776&sec=nation>

Technorati Tags: malaysia crime, malaysia, crime, tawau, taman masaic, tanjung batu, cheat, syndicate, sms cheat

10 January 2009
Kuching

Two men, aged 27 and 28 years old, were arrested on Thursday at 3:30pm for allegedly forcing 8 foreign women into prostitution. They were picked up at a double-storey terrace house in Poh Kwong Park.

The women, aged between 16 and 25 years old, were locked up in a room of the house. It is learnt that the women had been working as prostitutes for the past year.

Police are checking if the suspects were members of a syndicate while the suspects would be charged under Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2007.

The Star Online – Duo held for forcing foreign women into prostitution
<URL:http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/1/10/nation/2986784&sec=nation>

Technorati Tags: malaysia crime, malaysia, crime, kuching, poh kwong park, anti-trafficking, prostitution