Crime & Courts

Police confirm 22 reports over gold scheme fraud

KULIM: Police have confirmed receiving 22 police reports regarding the fraud involving a businesswoman known as Siti Hajartul Haini Abd Hamid over the past two months.

Acting district police chief Deputy Superintendent Safuan Mohd Noor said all the reports were made at the Kulim Hi-Tech police station.

He said the modus operandi carried out was the same as before.

"Investigations are being carried out regarding the report related to the case.

"However, if there are other victims who experience the same issues, they can lodge a police report at any station to help with the investigation," he said when contacted.

On Oct 18, police said they were looking for a woman who is suspected of masterminding fraudulent gold sales activities by tricking people into buying gold at a cheap price involving a loss of more than RM7 million.

Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said since September, police received 18 police reports regarding the woman's activities.

Ramli said investigations revealed that the suspect is said to be selling jewellery at a lower price than the current market which is around RM150 to RM200 for one gram of gold.

Earlier, Harian Metro reported that more than 100 victims were left disappointed after collectively losing over RM110 million due to a scheme orchestrated by Hajartul.

Most of the victims work at a public hospital unit in the Klang Valley, as well as teachers in several states and are now being hunted for being middlemen who collect money.

Similar to previous pyramid schemes, investors were lured with enticingly low prices, with some even willing to borrow from relatives, friends and loan sharks just to grab the 'great deal'.

Meanwhile, lawyer Dr Mahmud Jumaat said his waeam is gathering information from victims in other states, including Perak, and Kuala Lumpur for further action.

"At this stage, we find that there are two categories of complainants who are victims.

"Some are classified as 'leaders,' while there are those who actually have directly invested in this scheme and interacted with the woman who is currently being hunted," he said.

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