A far-fetched ruse of “washing” ringgit notes, turning them into US dollars – which victims discover too late are fake notes.
Police have busted a black money syndicate, arresting 10 men who have been operating for more than a year in Kuala Lumpur.
The syndicate has been cheating victims with the promise of tripling their “investment”, The Star reported.
“The syndicate would conduct a demonstration of washing ringgit notes, which would ‘magically’ turn into US dollars.
“To further convince their victims, the syndicate would then ask them to change the dollar notes at a money changer to prove its authenticity,” Kuala Lumpur police chief Comm Datuk Mazlan Lazim was quoted saying.
He added that the first few dollar notes would be genuine but the rest of the investment, which could amount to as much as RM400,000, were fakes notes.
The victim would then be coaxed into paying for the chemical solution used to “wash” the money.
The syndicate’s game plan was uncovered when a 45-year-old man reported the scam to the police after suspecting something amiss.
“He almost fell for the scam after he verified the authenticity of US$500 recently ‘washed’ by the syndicate.
“He was planning to invest RM300,000 but luckily, a friend of his warned him that it was a scam and later lodged a report on the matter,” Mazlan was quoted saying.
Police raided hotel rooms in Kuala Lumpur and Puchong on Jan 10 and arrested four suspects from Indonesia, four from Siera Leonne, and one each from Guinea and Palestine, aged between 28 and 49.
Two packages filled with fake US$100 notes and other items used for the black money demonstration were also seized.
Police believe the suspects were also responsible for three cases of black money scams last year, with losses amounting to RM427,000.