SHAH ALAM – The police have crippled a syndicate masterminded by a man known as “Datuk Ken” with the arrest of the key suspect and 15 individuals in a series of raids during a special operation in Rawang, Gombak.
Selangor police chief Datuk Arjunaidi Mohamed said the key suspect, 40, was arrested with his wife, 41, at their residence in Rawang on August 11.
He said investigations revealed that the man was engaged in illegal activities, such as online gambling, bitcoin mining and illegal money lending business, since 2014.
“It is believed that the syndicate was able to earn a profit of up to RM6 million a year from gambling activities, RM800,000 a month from bitcoin mining and RM2 million from money-lending activities by charging borrowers interests rates of 8%-10%. Borrowers are mostly his close friends and businessmen,” he told a press conference at the Selangor police contingent headquarters today.
Arjunaidi said the 15 individuals who were arrested, aged between 17 and 40, are believed to be syndicate members.
They were arrested last July 6 at their homes in Rawang in an operation conducted by the Selangor Criminal Investigation Department and the Bukit Aman Money Laundering Investigation Division, he said, adding that 13 of them have been charged in the Selayang court last July 9 under the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953.
Following the arrest of the key suspect in the syndicate and its members, police seized 14 luxury cars, including a Lamborghini Huracan, BMW 8i, Nissan GTR and Porsche Cayman, and 14 bungalows, three shophouses, some cash as well as frozen 71 bank accounts, all worth close to RM33 million, Arjunaidi said.
He said the police are now looking for two men, believed to be close aides of “Datuk Ken”, and urges those with information on them or their whereabouts to contact the inspector, Shahriman Mat Junus at 012-348-0281.
The two close aides are Chuah Seong Hooi, 48, also known as Ah Chong, whose last known address is Taman Rawang Perdana, Rawang, and Heow Hee Soon, 31, also known as Fei Soon, whose last known address is Bandar Country Homes, Rawang, he added. – Bernama, August 16, 2021
