Latest news with #assetSeizure
South China Morning Post
11-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
US$900 million seized as China helps Malaysia dismantle Tedy Teow's scam empire
Chinese and Malaysian police have seized over 3.8 billion ringgit (US$900 million) of assets – including yachts and property – from a syndicate alleged to have duped millions of people throughout the Asia-Pacific with promises of high-return investments. The Ponzi scheme, which operated mainly in Penang state, is believed to be linked to the MBI Group, started by Malaysian Tedy Teow Wooi Huat, who was extradited to China last year after hiding in Thailand. Seventeen people were arrested last month under Ops Northern Star. One of them was a major property developer who allegedly helped launder money for MBI through a web of businesses. 'We conducted the investigation with some intelligence assistance from China,' the police's Commercial Crime Investigation Department Acting Director Muhammed Hasbullah Ali told This Week in Asia on Wednesday. No criminal charges had yet been brought as the matter was still being investigated, a police source said. Tedy Teow being extradited to China on August 20 last year. Photo: Ministry of Public Security
South China Morning Post
06-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Malaysia's anti-corruption agency ‘vindictive' in pursuit of Daim's estate, widow says
The widow of Malaysian tycoon and former politician Daim Zainuddin has hit back at the country's anti-corruption agency, accusing it of being 'vindictive' by continuing to seize assets from his estate in both Malaysia and the United Kingdom despite no criminal conviction. On Thursday, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) took control of Daim's 58-storey Ilham Tower in Kuala Lumpur, alleging that it was tied to offences under the anti-money-laundering law. This is despite the commission having already taken the same action in 2023, a move that the family's lawyers said amounted to 'harassment'. 'This is vindictive, unlawful and a blatant abuse of power by MACC. This is contrary to the rule of law; it is the law of the jungle,' lawyers Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Singh Sohanpal said in a statement on the day of the seizure. A day before, a Malaysian court authorised the MACC to start proceedings in the UK to recover assets worth £132 million (US$179 million), including two commercial buildings, three luxury homes, two residential units and a bank account held by the Daim family-linked Ilham Foundation. Naimah Khalid (centre) entering the MACC's headquarters in Putrajaya in January last year. Photo: The Star
Malay Mail
30-05-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
MBI investment scam crackdown: 477 properties, RM328m frozen as cops nab ‘Tan Sri' in billion-ringgit bust
KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 — Police have seized and frozen an additional RM527.5 million in assets linked to the MBI International Group investment scam, bringing the total value of assets recovered to RM3.8 billion. Bukit Aman commercial crime investigation department (CCID) acting director Datuk Seri Muhammed Hasbullah Ali said the latest seizures followed the arrest of three individuals earlier this month in Penang and Kuala Lumpur, including a businessman with a 'Tan Sri' title, according to a report published in Free Malaysia Today. 'Among the seized assets are 477 properties valued at approximately RM150 million, four condominium units worth RM12 million, as well as four luxury yachts and three passenger boats worth RM36.3 million,' Hasbullah said at a press conference today. He added that 37 bank accounts holding RM328 million were frozen, and that authorities also confiscated three luxury vehicles worth RM637,000, RM283,070 in cash, and various items including watches, jewellery, mobile phones, and documents. Five business entities allegedly tied to the scam were also seized, including a durian plantation company, a property developer, and a hotel operator. Hasbullah said further arrests and asset seizures are expected as investigations under Op Northern Star continue. When asked about political involvement, Hasbullah said there was no evidence of any such connection at this stage. The operation, which targets financial syndicates in the Klang Valley and northern Peninsular Malaysia, has so far seen 17 people arrested and 988 bank accounts frozen. The suspects are believed to be part of a cross-border Ponzi-style investment scheme operated by the MBI group. Separately, police also busted two phone scam syndicates targeting Japanese nationals in Kajang and Cheras on May 13, seizing electronic devices worth RM25,000. In Kajang, six Japanese and two Chinese nationals were arrested at a three-storey bungalow used as a call centre, where they impersonated Osaka police using spoofed calls via the Bria Mobile app. Two Chinese suspects have been charged, while the six Japanese suspects will face charges on June 3. In Cheras, 11 people — seven Japanese and three Taiwanese — were arrested, with police seizing laptops, mobile phones, fake police uniforms, and documents valued at RM20,000. Three Taiwanese suspects have been charged, while the remaining eight will serve as prosecution witnesses. Hasbullah also said a special task force will be stationed at KLIA to tackle Haj package fraud during the pilgrimage season, following reports of RM874,100 in losses across four cases this year.
Free Malaysia Today
30-05-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
RM3.8bil in assets seized in MBI investment scam probe
Bukit Aman commercial crime investigation department acting director Hasbullah Ali said the latest seizures followed the arrest of three individuals in Penang and Kuala Lumpur earlier this month. (Bernama pic) KUALA LUMPUR : Police have seized and frozen additional assets worth RM527.5 million linked to the MBI International Group investment scam, raising the total value of seized assets in the case to RM3.8 billion. Bukit Aman commercial crime investigation department (CCID) acting director Hasbullah Ali said the latest seizures followed the arrest of three individuals in Penang and Kuala Lumpur earlier this month, one of whom is a businessman with a 'Tan Sri' title. 'Among the seized assets are 477 properties valued at approximately RM150 million, four condominium units worth RM12 million, as well as four luxury yachts and three passenger boats worth RM36.3 million,' Hasbullah said at a press conference at Menara KPJ here today. He added that 37 bank accounts containing RM328 million were frozen. Other confiscated items include three luxury vehicles worth RM637,000, RM283,070 in cash, and various watches, jewellery, mobile phones and documents. According to Hasbullah, five business entities tied to the scam have also been seized, including a durian plantation company, a property developer, and a hotel operator. He said more arrests and asset seizures are expected as investigations are still ongoing. When asked if any politicians were involved, Hasbullah said investigations have not found any evidence of a political connection, as yet. The latest development is part of Op Northern Star, a major police operation targeting financial syndicates operating in the Klang Valley and northern Peninsular Malaysia. To date, 17 individuals have been arrested and 988 bank accounts frozen under the operation. All suspects are believed to be linked to a cross-border Ponzi-style investment scheme operated by MBI group. Scam call centres busted Hasbullah also said two phone scam syndicates targeting Japanese nationals were busted in Kajang and Cheras on May 13. Devices worth RM25,000 were seized during the raids. In Kajang, six Japanese nationals and two Chinese men were arrested at a three-storey bungalow used as a call centre. The syndicate, which had been active for about two months, used spoofed calls through the Bria Mobile app to impersonate Osaka police officers and trick victims into transferring money. Two Chinese suspects were charged on May 22, while the six Japanese suspects are expected to be charged on June 3. In Cheras, 11 individuals — seven Japanese and three Taiwanese — were arrested during raids at two condominium units. Police seized laptops, mobile phones, fake police uniforms, and documents worth RM20,000. The syndicate used apps such as Got Further and Swapface to impersonate law enforcement and extort cryptocurrency from victims. Three Taiwanese suspects were charged on May 16, while the remaining eight individuals have been listed as prosecution witnesses. In a separate case, Hasbullah said a special task force has been established and will be based at KLIA to combat haj package fraud during the pilgrimage season. Hasbullah noted that while the number of cases has dropped from 11 in 2023 to four in 2024, the total losses increased to RM874,100. One case reported this year involved losses amounting to RM71,000.
RNZ News
07-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Police need greater financial powers to fight organised crime
Chair of the Ministerial Advisory Group on Organised Crime, Steve Symon. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro The head of the Ministerial Advisory Group on Organised Crime says police need greater powers to monitor bank accounts and seize suspects' assets. Chair Steve Symon said cash and assets seized by police were less than five percent of the $1.6 billion of criminal profits each year. "The police have powers under the Search and Surveillance Act to watch a person or to intercept their cellular communications but we don't have a method by which they can obtain their bank transactions over 30 days. What police would have to do is ask for a new order every single day," Symon said. The Ministerial Advisory Group on transnational and organised crime was set up in February, to provide independent, expert advice and recommendations to improve the cross-government response to what Associate Police Minister Casey Costello described as "an increasing threat". It had since met with a number of agencies , including Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Inland Revenue, Customs, Police and the Serious Fraud Office, as well as non-governmental stakeholders like banks, NZ Post, Auckland Airport and gang members. The group was providing monthly reports on different facets of organised crime in the country which Symon said would culminate in a final overarching report in September. This month's report was focused on ways to restrict criminals' ability to launder money and export profits, thereby reducing the country's attraction to transnational criminal groups. Symon said lawmakers needed to be bold if the country was to shift the dial on the growing problem of organised crime. "Organised crime is now effectively acting like large corporations who are there to make money and not concerned with how they make that money. "Illicit tobacco, methamphetamine, exploiting migrants is a way they can make money. Using all these opportunities to take advantage of the good will of the New Zealand public," Symon said. Symon said tougher controls on large cash purchases, carrying cash across the border and industries paying cash to fly beneath the radar would limit the potential for criminal exploitation. He said police and border control agencies needed to establish better communication and co-operation with financial institutions to enable them to stop scammers getting access to victims' money and to seize criminals' assets and funds more efficiently. "One of the things that keeps coming up is the need for us to work as a team. It's not just the police, not just Customs, not just these other enforcement agencies that can support them but it's looking more broadly than that. "Looking at our team as [including] the private sector, the banks, the telecommunications companies, the airfreight companies. All these different businesses than can help us collectively to work as a team to try and stamp out organised crime," he said. He said safeguards intended to protect from unjust seizures were instead contributing to a situation where confiscation processes were too slow and inefficient to provide effective disruption and deterrence. "We're trying to be very mindful that we don't want to interfere in a person's rights [but] what we're also trying to do is to offer up tools that might help the police and other enforcement agencies to immediately deal with the problem. To avoid situations where by the time we get to conviction the money's gone. "So to give agencies the opportunity to seize funds and seize assets now and then to go through the correct process to go through any court processes that might follow," Symon said. The group's report recommended the government attack organised crime by: Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
