KUCHING: A woman whose bank account was allegedly used as a mule account is urging authorities to conduct a thorough investigation after she found herself being investigated for cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
SUPP Public Complaint Bureau’s Chief, Milton Foo, said the victim unknowingly received RM36,000 from two unknown parties before transferring the money to a former colleague, who claimed the funds were rental deposits related to property transactions.
“The first transaction occurred in April, when RM5,000 was credited into her bank account by an unknown individual without her prior knowledge.
“Her former colleague, identified only as ‘Mr A’, later told her the money was a rental deposit and instructed her to transfer it to him.
“She made three online transfers totalling RM4,900 – RM3,000, RM1,000 and RM900 – while retaining RM100 after ‘Mr A’ allegedly told her to keep it as coffee money,” he said during a press conference at Milton and Co. this morning.
The second incident took place in May when another RM31,000 from an unknown individual was deposited into her account.
Foo said the victim transferred RM22,200 to him, following Mr A’s instruction, through two online transactions – RM2,000 on May 4 and RM20,200 on May 5.
“She also withdrew RM8,500 in cash from an ATM and handed it to him, while keeping RM300, again allegedly at his request as a token of appreciation,” he said.
In total, RM36,000 was deposited into her account, of which RM35,600 was transferred or handed over to Mr A. She retained RM400 in total.
The matter only came to light on June 29, when the victim’s husband was unable to transfer money into her bank account.
Foo said that after the victim check with the bank, she discovered that her account had been frozen following a police case linked to it in Bintulu.
The victim subsequently sought advice from a police officer before lodging a police report on July 1, detailing the transactions and identifying Mr A.
“She later learned that a case had been reported against her account in Bintulu, and she was placed on police bail pending further proceedings.
“All of her attempts to contact Mr A had failed, as he could no longer be reached by phone or social media,” said Foo.
The victim maintains that she had no intention of participating in any fraudulent activity, and merely acted on the instructions of someone she knew and trusted.
She appealed to the police to carry out a thorough investigation to determine whether her bank account had been misused as a mule account and to identify those responsible for the transactions.
“We urged the authorities to strengthen public awareness and establish clearer guidelines on the risks of allowing others to use personal bank accounts, warning that similar cases could happen to anyone,” added Foo.
