In December last year, we reported that Bank Negara Malaysia was investigating with the authorities the Bank Pertanian Malaysia Bhd (Agrobank) system following the incident of losing RM165.75 million. Yesterday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail confirmed that the actual loss was RM203.8 million due to online fraud.
The fraud is a form of account fraud with 47 individuals having been arrested in connection with this case, with three individuals being charged under Section 424C(1) of the Penal Code for offences related to account fraud. If found guilty, they can be sentenced to imprisonment for up to 10 years, a fine of up to RM150,000 or both. Investigations into the other 44 suspects are still ongoing with investigation papers being prepared with the assistance of CyberSecurity Malaysia and Bank Negara Malaysia.
The account fraud syndicate will “borrow” accounts belonging to individuals to store data received through online fraud techniques. Account owners are usually promised high fees for lending out their accounts without realizing it is illegal.
