SHAH ALAM, Aug 10 — The police arrested 101 individuals including 36 women believed to be carrying out fraudulent online investment activities at two premises in USJ 1, Subang Jaya, on Aug 7.

Selangor Police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said in the raids conducted at 12.30 pm, all the locals aged between 19 and 41 including managers, operations staff, IT department technicians and call centre operators were arrested.

He said the syndicate, which used the name ‘GCM Asia’, had been operating for more than a year through social media platforms and websites.

"It offers investment packages in forex, gold, oil, stocks and others at a minimum amount of USD100. Investors are promised a handsome return of up to 30 per cent profit within a short period of time before realising they have been duped," he said in a press conference at the Selangor Police Contingent Headquarters today.

Hussein said 94 computers, 47 office phones, 96 mobile phones and a modem and router were also seized during the raid.

"Preliminary inspection of the confiscated case items found that the GCM Asia investment application and bank account number used by the syndicate were involved in several police reports that had been made by fraud victims in Selangor and other states.

"In fact, the GSM Asia investment scheme has also been blacklisted by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) for the past two years. The losses suffered by the victims has so far been estimated to be about RM2 million," he said.

Hussein said all suspects have been remanded for three days beginning Aug 8 and that the case was being investigated under Section 420 and Section 120B of the Penal Code.

In another development, Hussein said the police had completed the investigation paper into the controversy surrounding United Kingdom band The 1975 at the Good Vibes Festival last month.

"We have recorded 28 statements including 17 from complainants, 10 from the Committee for Apllication for Filming and Foreign Artists’ Presentations and one from the organiser. The investigation has been completed and we will hand it over to the Deputy Public Prosecutor for further action," he said.

Commenting over the issue of a group conducting a hunger strike at the Sungai Buloh Prison, Hussien said the police were still waiting for the organisers of the strike to provide their statement to complete the investigation involving statements from 22 individuals. — Bernama