GEORGE TOWN, July 10 — The manager of a cargo company in Penang lost RM693,000 after falling victim to an investment syndicate that offered a 100 per cent profit.

Penang deputy police chief Datuk Mohd Alwi Zainal Abidin said the Barat Daya district police headquarters received a police report from the 70-year-old local man on Tuesday.

"According to the victim, in early March, he saw an investment advertisement via Facebook and clicked on a link before a female suspect began providing him with information regarding an "Industrial Securities International” investment via WhatsApp.

"The victim was promised a profit of 100 per cent from the capital invested within 48 hours, and from June 4 to July 3, the man paid 12 transactions to five different bank accounts,” he said in a statement yesterday.

He said the man finally realised it was a fraud syndicate when he did not receive the promised profit, as the suspect even asked him for more payments before he could make a withdrawal.

According to Mohd Alwi, further investigations are underway, including tracing the fraud syndicate network, while the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. — Bernama