KUALA LUMPUR: Police will seek the views and suggestions of the Attorney-General's Chambers in its investigations into human trafficking cases in Myanmar that had been initially linked to a former deputy minister.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said they had taken statements from 11 individuals.
"The 11 individuals questioned included a Datuk Seri who has been on our radar since we began our investigations," he said today.
When asked about the focus now since no evidence was found linking the former deputy minister and her husband to human trafficking, Razarudin said that they would seek the views and suggestions of the Attorney-General's Chambers.
Recently, it was reported that former deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim and her husband had been allegedly linked to a human trafficking syndicate in Myanmar after a video appeared showing her at a groundbreaking event of a real-estate company.
An investigation found that Mashitah did go to Myanmar to make an investment, but Razarudin was quoted saying that based on the analysis of several bank accounts, police found the monies in question were savings.
On Thursday, it was reported that police had obtained reports from Bank Negara Malaysia and the Registry of Societies on several individuals, including Mashitah and a "Datuk Seri" businessman.
The police also recorded statements from several individuals, including human trafficking victims who had been rescued and repatriated from Myanmar.
On Aug 29, Mashitah lodged a report over a Malaysian Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) report sent to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission the previous day. The MHO report had requested the MACC to investigate a politician and her husband over their alleged involvement in a human trafficking syndicate in Myanmar.
Mashitah had since denied her involvement, claiming that the accusations stemmed from small-scale media sources in Indonesia.
MHO secretary-general Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim said a syndicate in Myanmar was deceiving victims online, some of them believed to be Malaysians and Indonesians, with attractive job offers and would force them to work as online gambling scammers once they arrived in the country.