KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — A company director lost RM5.5 million after allegedly falling victim to a foreign exchange transaction scam.
Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the Selangor Commercial Crime Investigation Department received a report from the 42-year-old male victim who claimed he had made a forex transaction between Malaysian ringgit and Vietnamese dong to pay wages and other costs involving his company in Vietnam.
"Investigations revealed that the victim knew a man from Miri, Sarawak, who had successfully carried out several small currency exchange transactions.
"At the end of March, the victim made a large currency exchange transaction totalling RM6.5 million but only received Vietnamese Dong worth RM900,000," he said in a statement last night, adding that the victim made 15 transactions to seven separate accounts.
Hussein said the victim realised he had been scammed after the suspect gave multiple excuses and evaded paying the remaining balance.
The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
He advised the public to be cautious when dealing with illegal foreign currency exchanges and to conduct such transactions only with foreign exchange companies registered with Bank Negara.
— Bernama
