Wednesday June 19, 2013
Cops bust cheque forgery gang
By WINNIE YEOH
[email protected]
Criminal technique: DCP Abdul Rahim (left) and state Commercial Crime Investigations Department chief Asst Comm Roslee Chik demonstrating how the original cheque numbers are removed.
GEORGE TOWN: Police believe they have crippled a syndicate specialising in forging cheques following the arrest of two people and seizure of cheques worth over RM500,000.
State police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said the two male suspects were former bank employees.
He said the duo, aged between 30 and 35, were arrested at a hotel in Macalister Road here at 11.30am on Sunday.
Police believe two more syndicate members are still at large.
During the operation, police confiscated 329 cheques worth RM534,409.23, two passports, 11 credit cards, nine ATM cards, a Honda Accord car, two laptops, printers, colour pencils, RM400 cash and stationery.
DCP Abdul Rahim said their modus operandi was to steal letters that contained ATM or credit cards and cheques from “pigeon holes” at office blocks.
The numbers on the cheques would then be replaced by a new set of numbers.
“They have been operating for the last two years. We believe they have cashed cheques amounting to over RM1mil,” he said.
DCP Abdul Rahim said the suspects would bank in the forged cheques into accounts where the holders would receive a 30% share.
“We are in the process of identifying 10 such accounts and their owners,” he said.
The two suspects were also involved in 10 other cheating cases in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Malacca.
DCP Abdul Rahim urged the public to tighten the security of their mail boxes.
