Third ‘Tan Sri' nabbed in RM3.5bil MBI scam probe
KUALA LUMPUR: Another 'Tan Sri' has been nabbed over his alleged involvement in the Mobility Beyond Imagination (MBI) investment scam.
This brings the total of those detained in the ongoing investigation to 14 people.
Sources said the 53-year-old man was detained in Penang at about 2am yesterday after he returned from overseas.
'He arrived from overseas via Kuala Lumpur International Airport and made his way to Penang.
'He is believed to be either the syndicate's proxy or a business partner of the suspects,' sources said.
The police are also investigating the possibility of the suspect's involvement in money laundering for the syndicate.
'He is believed to have received profits from the investment scam for money laundering purposes,' sources said.
Meanwhile, IGP secretariat's Anti-Money Laundering (Amla) division head Comm Datuk Muhammad Hasbullah Ali confirmed the arrest under Ops Northern Star.
'However, we have not seized any belongings so far.
'We are still investigating the case,' he said.
The Star previously reported that two prominent businessmen with Tan Sri titles and a Datuk Seri were already in custody.
The arrests of the earlier 13 suspects were made between March 21 and April 21, which has now seen RM3.5bil in assets including a hotel and durian plantations linked to the MBI investment scheme previously seized.
Among the assets seized this round were durian plantations in Pahang, Penang and Kedah worth RM223,624,167.75.
An additional 299 bank accounts with RM123,614,594.35 were also frozen, he said.
All these assets were believed to have been purchased or had links to the proceeds from the scheme's illegal gains.
Investigations showed that one of the Tan Sri, a businessman, had been acting as both partner to the investment scam and a proxy to the victims.
As of now, no other 'influential figures' such as politicians are on the police radar and others who were being pursued are businessmen, said Comm Muhammad Hasbullah.
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