KUALA LUMPUR: Philippine police have discovered the remains of a man believed to be a Malaysian individual who was recently kidnapped and held for ransom.
In a press conference today, Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said Philippines police had received a report from the victim's brother on October 22.
He said that a group of men had kidnapped the Malaysian and had asked for RM330,000 in ransom from his brother.
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He said that the money has been transferred to the kidnappers via cryptocurrency exchange in US dollars.
Despite that, Ramli said that the Philippines police have found a body that matched the description of the victim in San Sinom, Papanga on October 23.
He also said Philippines police had asked their Malaysian counterpart to help track down the suspect via the ransom transaction through crypto exchanges.
"The analysis conducted subsequently successfully traced the flow of the cryptocurrency transactions, which were transferred to an unregistered exchange in Malaysia.
"Information received from that exchange disclosed the identities of six foreign persons who are now being investigated," he said at the CCID headquarters today.
In other developments, Ramli said the police have received 10 police reports involving a forex investment scam involving RM4.7 million.
From preliminary investigations, police indicate that the website is believed to operate outside the country.
He said that victims in this case were promised a return of capital and a monthly profit of five per cent of the investment amount.
He also said that the victims were confident in the investment plan after communicating with the suspect through the "Zoom" application.
"Payments of investment amounts ranging from RM437,253.00 to RM864,303.00 were made through the Huobi platform (a cryptocurrency exchange application).
"Based on the cryptocurrency analysis conducted, JSJK has successfully identified an international syndicate engaging in suspicious transactions with a value exceeding RM1 billion.
"Further information is currently being processed, and individuals associated with the case have already been identified," Ramli said.