In a brief reply to New Straits Times via Whatsapp, they said: “It would be best to get MACC to comment on your query.”
The response came after the police was asked why they were not involved in Tuesday’s bust, code named Op Tropicana, which was held simultaneously at 24 premises in Klang Valley and Penang.
It was reported there was no police involvement in the raid, however, no reason was given.
The syndicate, which began its operations in 2019, lured victims to park money in non-existent investment portfolios.
A 164-men multi-agency raiding team stormed an operations centre in Petaling Jaya which saw the arrest of 70 syndicate workers, consisting of Australians, Britons, South Africans and Filipinos, by the Immigration Department.
MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said the victims were attracted by the advertisements on the non-existent investment companies on social media and convinced by syndicate workers to part with their money.
A total of 74 bank accounts belonging to individuals and companies have since been frozen with an estimated value of RM11 million.
Various methods were used to uncover the syndicate’s activities, including financial investigations as well as intelligence conducted between agencies in Australia and other countries, together with MACC’s Anti-Money Laundering division.
NST
.