JOHOR BARU: Police arrested two foreign men, who are brothers, on suspicion of being the masterminds behind a charity donation scam, and rescued six victims when they raided a residence in Taman Tiram Baru, Ulu Tiram, here on Tuesday (Dec 3).
Johor police chief CP Datuk M Kumar said that the two suspects, aged 47 and 54, who acted as the driver and planner of the operation, were detained by a team from the Criminal Investigation Department of the Seri Alam District Police Headquarters at 11am.
He said the six victims, a Malaysian man and five foreign men aged between 21 and 70, had been used by the syndicate to collect donations.
Kumar added the syndicate's modus operandi was to deceive the public by claiming that the donations were intended to fund a tahfiz school for orphans in Songkhla, Thailand.
"The residence is believed to have been used to house the donation collectors and preliminary investigations found that the syndicate has been active since mid-2019.
"The syndicate targeted areas around Johor Baru, Seri Alam, Kulai, Ayer Hitam and Simpang Renggam," he said in a statement yesterday.
Kumar added that police also seized two cars, six donation boxes marked as "donations for the construction of a tahfiz school and orphans," nine mobile phones, and a stamp bearing the name of a madrasah.
"Police also seized a file containing copies of an appointment letter authorising the solicitation of donations using the letterhead of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia and the Johor Islamic Religious Department, four photographs of a madrasah under construction, 10 cash transfer receipts and RM9,158 cash," he said.
He said that both masterminds, who tested positive for ketamine, have been remanded for a week starting yesterday, while the six victims have been placed in a temporary shelter for 21 days under Section 44(2) of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (ATIPSOM) Act 2017.-- BERNAMA