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Dian Wei
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Published: Wednesday August 18, 2010 MYT 6:46:00 PM
Cops bust huge fake credit card syndicate
By STEVEN CHIEW
KUALA LUMPUR: Police have busted one of the country’s largest fake credit card syndicates with the arrest of two men and a woman in the city recently. A total of 2287 fake cards with a credit limit of about RM23mil were seized from the suspects, aged between 31 and 40.
City police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Wira Muhammad Sabtu Osman said the three suspects were picked up in house at Shah Alam about 9am on August 16 after investigations following a police report lodged on July 17. He said police also seized equipment used to forge the cards, 10 passports and two cars in the house. “We believe the syndicate uses the passports to travel around to world and use the fake cards to buy expensive items.
“The syndicate have been active since 2006 and now we are looking for the last member of the group, believed to be the mastermind,” he told the press conference Wednesday. Police who began monitoring the syndicate after a hotel management lodged report on July 17 at Brickfields police headquarters that a customer used a fake credit card, he said.
When the culprits checked-in to the same hotel again on July 24 police managed to arrest two men aged 38 and 40. “We were able to identify them using CCTV footage in the hotel,” said DCP Muhammad Sabtu. He said the two suspects released on bail after being remanded for five days.
Further investigations led police to nab another three suspects and seize the fake credit cards, he said. The suspects will be charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment with mandatory whipping or fine, or both upon conviction, he added.
