KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 — Early this month, a whopping RM24.2 million in total was taken out from several fixed deposit accounts in Kota Kinabalu, in what was suspected to be fraud by a syndicate.

What is the latest on the case?

• A total of 14 people have been arrested to assist in investigations so far.
• MBSB Bank Berhad has since gone public and admitted it was the financial institution that was targeted.
• Investigations are being carried out under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. If found guilty, the suspects can face jail up to 10 years in jail, fines, and whippings.
• MBSB said it has refunded all the monies affected after Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) called for it.

Who has been detained so far? According to Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Datuk Seri Mohamed Ramli Yoosuf, the 14 individuals aged between 22 and 54 arrested included at least four bank employees.

Here’s a timeline of the case:

• Early June — four police reports lodged by account holders and bank staff in Petaling Jaya, Selangor
• June 13 — a 38-year-old female bank employee was detained in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
• June 16 — a man in his 40s, suspected to be the mastermind of the syndicate, was arrested
• June 19 — 13 individuals in total had been arrested, and remand for at least 11 of them was extended until June 23
• June 20 — one individual released after remand expired, another suspect released on police bail
• June 21 — a local woman in her 40s, who was believed to have a close relationship with a bank employee in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah was arrested

What the police have divulged about syndicate:

• It has been active since 2023.
• The suspects were said to receive between RM100,000 and RM240,000 in commission based on their roles in the syndicate.
• It was believed that the mastermind was an expert in falsifying personal information, particularly in identity cards and fingerprints for the withdrawal process.
• The mastermind had been involved in the planning and withdrew more than RM551,000 from another bank, early this year.
• Seized so far: Nine vehicles of various models, RM1.93 millions in cash, mobile phones, ATM, debit and credit cards, as well as jewellery and documents believed related to the criminal activities.

What have the authorities said about this?

• BNM said it takes a serious view of the recent reports that large-scale unauthorised cash withdrawals arising from the collusion of financial institution employees with external parties. "The integrity of individuals working in financial institutions is paramount.”
• BNM also said individuals with records of fraud and dishonesty are banned from working in any licensed financial institution.
• MBSB announced that they had cooperated with the legal authorities to ensure a swift and thorough resolution of the case. "Our priority is the security and trust of our customers. We are working closely with the authorities to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.”
• MBSB said it has refunded all monies illegally withdrawn from the affected customers’ accounts.

Bukit Aman CCID said in December that a total of 32,462 cases of online fraud with losses amounting to RM1.3 billion last year. The breakdown of the cases were as shown in this chart: