SEREMBAN, Sept 3 — The family of Irish-French teen Nora Anne Quoirin received a purported ransom email following her disappearance near here last year that was later discovered to be a scam, a senior police officer testified at the Coroner’s Court today.

Deputy Negri Sembilan Criminal Investigation Department chief (Intelligence/Operations) Superintendent Wan Azlan Wan Mamat said the matter was conveyed to him by then police international relations liaison officer Assistant Commissioner Nik Ezanee Mohd Faisal on August 12, 2019.

“On that day, when I was in my office at the contingent headquarters, I received information from Nik Ezanee who disclosed that Quoirin’s family received an email demanding for a ransom amounting to two Bitcoin (BTC) which was equivalent to RM23,000 at that time,” Wan Azlan, who is the 12th witness in Quoirin’s inquest, told Coroner Maimoonah Aid.

After receiving the information, Wan Azlan said he was told shortly after by Nik Ezanee that an investigation would be conducted by Bukit Aman that night itself.

“Nik Ezanee then informed me that an investigation was conducted to trace the IP address of the purported email which had originated from Virginia, United States of America.

“The fake email was then revealed to be a scam with the help of Interpol,” he said.

Without providing specific details of the email and purported sender, Wan Azlan told the court the email was sent on August 5, 2019 and only read on August 12, 2019.

Earlier, Wan Azlan was asked to recount the sequence of events during the time he was assigned to investigate the case in his capacity as a senior police officer from the CID between August 8 and August 13, 2019.

Among the tasks he was involved in included studying intelligence reports filed by his officers on their searches in the surrounding areas of resort and supervising the assignment of personnel in their respective search parties.

He also told the court he was informed that a body had been discovered in an oil palm estate on August 13, 2019 and that he personally visited the location to verify the information.

However, Wan Azlan said he did not enter the area where the body was found but instead decided to supervise the main entryway until the body was airlifted and transported to the hospital.

When asked to summarise the search-and-rescue operation, Wan Azlan said any information involving Quoirin was considered and investigated to obtain any form of leads of her whereabouts.

He also affirmed that no criminal elements were detected during his involvement in the search-and-rescue operation for Quoirin when asked by lawyer Aliff Benjamin Suhaimi who is representing The Dusun.

Quoirin, a 15-year-old with learning difficulties, disappeared from The Dusun resort last year where she had been staying with her London-based family, triggering a 10-day hunt involving helicopters, search dogs and hundreds of searchers.

Her nude body was later discovered close to the jungle retreat and an autopsy found that she probably starved and died of internal bleeding after spending about a week in the dense rainforest.