By Zaki
KUALA LUMPUR – The public is advised to be careful not to fall victim to any investment or savings scheme that promises lucrative profits.
Checks can be made through official sources such as Semak Mule, Alert List of Bank Negara Malaysia (BN) and Security Commission (SC) before making a decision to participate in any scheme.
Malaysian Police Secretary of the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), Datuk Noorsiah Mohd Saaduddin said the police are investigating a scheme known as Sapiza Saving Extra (SSE) involving fraud.
According to him, up to now a total of 116 police reports have been received regarding the syndicate involved and involving losses of over RM4 million.
“Police have arrested eight individuals including the main mastermind of the Sapiza Saving Extra (SSE) Scheme syndicate on January 27.
“They were all arrested in raids around the national capital, Terengganu, Perak and Negeri Sembilan, namely two men and six women aged between 31 and 37,” he said in a statement.
Also seized in the raid was a luxury vehicle, ATM cards, mobile phones of various brands and various documents believed to be used in fraudulent activities.
According to Noorsiah, the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code and the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFPUAA 2001).
He explained that the initial investigation found that the scheme had been active since 2015 by offering savings based on tontine.
However, he said, starting in 2021, the scheme will start offering several new savings plans from as low as RM250 up to RM20,000 with a savings period of between two to five months.
In addition, the new scheme offered also promises a profit of 15 percent to 40 percent of the amount of money saved.
“However, since October 2022, the operator of this savings scheme has been found to have started to fail to pay off profit payments to participants,” he said.
