SHAH ALAM, Dec 2 — A forex trading syndicate, which embezzled some US$8 million (RM33.8 million) from a Chinese national, was crippled by police following raids in two separate locations in the Klang Valley early on Sunday morning. 

The syndicate, which had been under police surveillance since early November, was foiled following a report lodged by the 27-year-old Chinese woman who fell victim to the scam. 

Bukit Aman Commercial CID deputy director Datuk Hamza Taib said the two male suspects, a 50-year-old Oxford graduate and a 34-year-old former remisier, were nabbed at a condominium in Bukit Ceylon and the parking lot of a shopping mall. 

“The victim found out about the company after she attended an investment seminar in Guangzhou, China, in July 2014.

Hamza said the seminar, which was organised by the syndicate’s foreign partners, had offered returns of up to three fold on their original investments. 

“The victim bought into the idea and ended up forking out a total of US$8 million in ‘investments’ from last July to November this year,” he said. 

“The victim visited Malaysia with the suspects and they displayed their ‘properties’ which were apparently obtained from the returns of these investments deals.”

Things fell apart for her when several of her emails and calls went unanswered.

She then lodged a police report.

“The victim, who resides in China, came to Malaysia with the specific intention to lodge the report against the scammers,” he said. 

He said police believed they were dealing with an international syndicate and these suspects were just the Malaysian counterparts of a larger organisation.

The suspects were caught with RM2.7 million in cash, a Toyota Velfire and a Honda CRV, a fake passport and identification card, and several books and writing material believed to be used for records purposes. 

Police are tracking down the rest of the money and investigating how many had fallen prey to the scam.

He said the men, who are believed to have used forged identities to lure their victims, were registered to be working for a legitimate forex trading company.

Overall, Hamza said police received a total of 131 reports on crooked forex trading companies from January to November this year.

“These cases amounted to RM32.2 million in losses suffered by the victims,” he said.

The suspects will be remanded until today, and are being investigated for cheating.