KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 — Police have received 547 reports on cheating involving three investment companies and opened 62 investigation papers on these cases under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said of this figure, 42 investigation papers were still under investigative action, 14 cases had been charged, four were classified as no further action and two were still under action by the Attorney General’s Chambers.

"All police reports found to have elements of cheating or criminal breach of trust will lead to investigation papers being opened and investigated under sections related to the particular crime under the Penal Code,” he said in a statement today.

Ramli said most cases involving investment crime concerned other legal provisions, including the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (Act 671), Financial Services Act 2013 (Act 758) and Interest Schemes Act 2016 (Act 778).

"When a police report is received, CCID will advise the complainant to refer their report to the relevant agency,” he said.

He was commenting on the case of some 500 scam victims lodging reports with the National Anti-Financial Crime Centre (NFCC) yesterday after alleging that the authorities had not taken action against the three investment companies.

Ramli said non-governmental organisations fighting for these victims should realise that the authorities including the police did not take cheating cases lightly.

He advised the public to be wary of investment schemes offering unusually high returns, especially those run by unregistered companies. — Bernama