SUNGAI BULOH: The police have arrested 13 men who are believed to be part of a group involved in vehicle theft and fraud.
Sungai Buloh OCPD Supt Shafa’aton Abu Bakar said they were alerted after receiving a report from a 56-year-old man claiming that his Audi Q7 was stolen outside a bank at Bandar Rahman Putra Sungai Buloh on Sept 1.
“We investigated and found that no such theft had occurred; the complainant had handed over the vehicle to a third party to be sold.
“The third party informed him that the vehicle had been stolen and told him to lodge a police report in order to make insurance claims,” she said.
Supt Shafa’aton added that the owner was not aware that the car was never stolen.
She said a police team then launched a series of raids in Rawang, Setapak, Melaka and Kuala Lumpur between Sept 10 and Sept 16.
“We arrested 13 men aged between 22 and 55, including a Sri Lankan. When we raided a vehicle half-cut warehouse at Melaka Tengah we seized 13 vehicle components which belonged to stolen vehicles,” she said.
Supt Shafa’aton added that they recovered engines for six cars, including a Toyota Vios, Volkswagen Passat, Toyota Vellfire and Mazda CX9.
She said the vehicles were connected to five cases in Selangor, three cases in Kuala Lumpur and two cases in Melaka.
“The investigation revealed the syndicate was led by a 44-year-old suspect who had a prior record for vehicle theft, ” said Supt Shafa’aton.
She added that the suspects have been remanded to assist with further investigations.
“The syndicate has been active since 2014 and has been connected with vehicle thefts and fraudulent vehicle disposal amounting to RM1.3mil,” she said. -The Star