MIRI, Oct 3 — A 74-year-old man was duped into parting with his savings of RM157,765.71 after an acquaintance promised to help him earn higher returns from another bank.
Miri Police chief ACP Gan Tian Kee said the victim was taken in by the suspect’s assurance that he could help him gain higher returns from his savings by depositing the money into a fixed deposit account of another bank.
“The victim met the suspect, who claimed that he was from a certain political party, at 10am on Tuesday behind the Grand Palace Hotel,” Gan told Bernama today.
“The victim was immediately taken to his bank to withdraw a sum of RM157,765.71 from his fixed deposit account,” he said.
He said the suspect then took the money to the other bank and promised the victim that he would deposit it into a fixed deposit account.
He said the suspect then told the victim that the money had been deposited into the account and the bank would call him at 3pm.
“The suspect then sent the victim to the place where they had met earlier. The victim realised he had been cheated when no phone calls were received from the bank,” he said.
The victim lodged a police report yesterday.
Gan said that besides the suspect, who is believed to be the mastermind, police were now looking for two other male accomplices. — Bernama
