SHAH ALAM, Oct 28 — Police have arrested a man suspected of being the mastermind behind a vehicle and property sale scam in which photographs of the Raja Muda of Selangor were allegedly misused, with total losses estimated at RM1.42 million.

Selangor police chief Datuk Shazeli Kahar said the 40-year-old suspect was arrested in Johor Bahru at about 5 pm yesterday following continuous intelligence gathering into 26 police reports received nationwide since 2023.

“During the arrest, the suspect was found hiding at a residential property belonging to an acquaintance in Johor, which is believed to have served as his hideout after he went missing on October 13.

“Also arrested were two siblings who were acquaintances of the suspect — a 26-year-old woman in Shah Alam, followed by her 27-year-old brother in Johor Bahru — after they were suspected of conspiring to hide him,” he told a press conference at the Selangor police headquarters here today.

Shazeli said further investigations found that the suspect used the same modus operandi with each victim, posing as an aide-de-camp to the Raja Muda of Selangor before offering properties of various categories and vehicles for sale.

He said investigations also found that the self-employed suspect had no affiliation with or official appointment at any palace or the Selangor royal institution.

“In Selangor alone, 15 police reports have been lodged, involving losses amounting to RM960,020. The suspect is believed to have been active since 2023, with victims also reported outside Selangor, including in Kuala Lumpur, Kedah, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Perlis.

“Police are now applying for remand orders for all the suspects under Section 420 of the Penal Code to assist in investigations. The case is still being investigated in detail to determine whether any remaining members of the group or accomplices are still at large,” he said.

In a separate development, Shazeli said the Selangor Commercial Crime Investigation Department had dismantled online scam syndicates with the arrest of 58 individuals in raids conducted from October 20 to 26.

“All those arrested, aged between 20 and 50, comprised eight local men and 50 foreign nationals — 45 men and five women — most of whom originated from East Asia.

“Cross-checks are being conducted with the Immigration Department to verify their documents, and preliminary investigations found that all had entered the country through legal entry points,” he said.

He said all the suspects worked as customer service operators involved in investment scams, love scams and fake job offers, targeting victims overseas, including in Europe and East Asia, since August.

Shazeli said police also seized various communication devices worth RM228,000 during the operation, including 117 mobile phones, 21 desktop computers, 16 laptops, eight routers or modems, two iPads and two central processing units.

All the suspects have been remanded under Sections 420 and 120B of the Penal Code, with varying remand periods. — Bernama