HSBC Bank officer charged for stealing money from victims of missing flight MH370

KUALA LUMPUR: A couple pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court to multiple charges involving theft from the bank accounts of four passengers aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

Bank officer Nur Shila Kanan and her mechanic husband Ba­­sheer Ahmad Maula Sahul Hameed, both 33, were accused of making illegal transfers and withdrawals, amounting to RM85,180 in total, from the accounts.

Nur Shila faces 12 principal charges in relation to transferring money from the HSBC Bank accounts to other bank accounts, theft, getting approval for a debit card and making a new Internet banking application with intent to cheat, and using forged documents at the HSBC branch in Lebuh Ampang from May 14 to July 14.

Basheer faces four main char­ges, including one for allegedly using a debit card and an ATM card to withdraw cash from the bank accounts.

He allegedly committed the offences at the bank’s ATM centre at Ampang Point here between May 15 and June 29.

Each of them also face four alternative charges of stealing from the HSBC Bank accounts.

The money was reported missing from the accounts of two Chinese nationals, Ju Kun and Tian Jun Wei, and Malaysians Hue Pui Peng and flight steward Tan Size Hiang.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Fadhli Mahmud applied to the court to set bail for each at RM20,000 in one surety and asked that the couple be made to surrender their passports to the court.

Lawyer Abdul Hakeem Aiman Mohd Affandi, who appeared for the couple, asked that bail be set at RM10,000 in one surety for each and said that they were willing to surrender their passports.

Judge Mat Ghani Abdullah set bail at RM12,000 in one surety for each and impounded their passports.

He fixed Aug 25 for the case to be brought before him again.

The Star/Asia News Network

MH370: Couple claim trial to illegal withdrawals

• 
• 
• 
• 

KUALA LUMPUR: A bank officer and her husband pleaded not guilty in the sessions court today to multiple charges involving illegal transfer and withdrawal of money, amounting to RM110,643, from the accounts of four passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Nur Shila Kanan and her husband, Basheer Ahmad Maula Sahul Hameed, both 33, face multiple charges under the Computer Crimes Act, 1997, and Sections 379, 465 and 471 of the Penal Code.

Judge Mat Ghani Abdullah allowed them to be tried jointly. He set bail at RM12,000 each in one surety and ordered that their international passports be surrendered to the court.

Nur Shila faces 12 principal charges of illegal transfer of money from HSBC Bank, thefts, cheating and forging documents.

She also faces three alternative charges for theft, all of which she allegedly committed at HSBC Lebuh Ampang branch between May 14 and July 8.

Basheer faces four principal charges of using an ATM card and debit card to make illegal withdrawals and four alternative charges for theft, all of which had been allegedly committed at the HSBC ATM at Ampang Point between May 15 and June 29.

DPP Ahmad Fadli Mahmud asked the court to set bail at RM20,000 each in one surety.

Defence counsel Abdul Hakeem Aiman Mohd Affandi, however, requested for the bail to be reduced to RM10,000 on grounds that Nur Shila is a staff in HSBC earning RM3,000 a month, while Basheer, a mechanic, earns RM2,000 a month and have five people under their care, including three children aged between five years and six months old.

Mat Ghani fixed Aug 25 for mention before Judge Norsharidah Awang.

It was earlier reported that money had been missing from the bank accounts of four passengers of MH370 – Chinese nationals Ju Kun and Tian Jun Wei, and Malaysians Hue Pui Heng and flight steward Tan Size Hian.

Initial investigations reportedly revealed that the suspect had transferred funds from three passengers’ bank accounts into the account of a fourth passenger through Internet banking, and together with the fourth passenger’s account, the amount totalled RM110,643.

It was also reported that the missing money came to light on July 18 when a bank officer from a foreign bank detected a series of suspicious transactions and transfers from the four accounts.

Flight MH370 disappeared from radar screens on March 8 as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board. The plane has yet to be found, even after an exhaustive search in the southern Indian Ocean where it is believed to have gone down.

By Karen Arukesamy newsdesk@thesundaily.my

Related posts:

What the hack were they up to, MH370?

Hackers target information on MH370 probe The computers of high-ranking officials in agencies involved in the MH370 investigation were ha...

Malaysia's flight MH370 mistakes reflect stagnant politics; Bad apples in NZ sex crime..

Malaysia is poised to escape the middle-income trap, but also ready to fall back into it. Normally the middle-income trap refers to count...

Related articles:

• MH370: Couple plead not guilty to making fraudulent withdrawals
• Hunt for duo who siphoned money intensifies
• Mystery withdrawals from accounts of MH370 passengers
• Wife of crew member shocked over missing money
• MH370: Cops identify possible suspects in RM111,000 withdrawals from victims' accounts

• AG to get probe papers on missing money
• MH370: Two held for stealing RM110,643 from passengers
• Hisham condemns theft from bank accounts of MH370 victims
• Suspect in MH370 ATM scam identified
• Fugitive Pakistani still in country, says police

Al-Shabaah terrorist members enter Malaysia as students and tourists!

Key arrest: Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Unit officers detaining the 34-year-old Somali, believed to be a member of Al-Shabaab terrorist group, in Selangor.

Hunt on for more Somalis

KUALA LUMPUR: The police counter terrorism division has launched a manhunt for at least five other members of the Somali terrorist group Al-Sha­baab who entered the country as college students and tourists.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ah­­mad Zahid Hamidi said the hunt was to ensure that Malaysia did not be­­come a training ground for militant groups.

“Malaysia has never compromised when it comes to militant activities. This (efforts to hunt terrorists) is done continuously,” he told reporters after visiting the Kamunting Pri­­son yesterday.

“We are hunting down several individuals. Some of them are married to local women. They have not set up bases in this country but they share the ideology.”

His comments came a day after a suspected Somali terrorist belonging to the Al-Shabaab group, which is active in Africa and the Middle East, was arrested in Selangor.

The 34-year-old was also on the most wanted list Interpol.

Dr Ahmad Zahid said the man was believed to have entered Malaysia using student passes two years ago and studied in a private college.

Deputy IGP Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin said police were using all resources to search and detain the remaining members.

Contributed by Malaysia Police nab man linked to Somalian terrorist group By G. Prakash - See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/police-nab-man-linked-to-somalian-terrorist-group#sthash.CzfpTtok.dpuf “We are focused on capturing these dangerous people,” he told The Star yesterday.

According to a source involved in the operation, the counter terrorism unit had been closely monitoring a group of five Al-Shabaab members who had entered the country using altered passports and signed up as students of top private colleges and public universities using fake identities and documents.

“There are strong indications that the group was trying to set up a base here to remain below surveillance.

“We believe authorities in Africa and Europe were closing in on them, forcing some members to flee to Malaysia,” the source said.

Asked why the militant group picked Malaysia, the source said the perception was that the country was “too welcoming”.

“Security at our entry points is deemed to be lax and this is luring the wrong kind of people. It is about time the systems in place are re­­vamped,” the source said.

So far, police have found no signs to suggest that Al-Shabaab had been attempting to recruit Malaysians or forge any form of cooperation with home-grown militants who were detained recently.

The arrest of the Somali man is not believed to be linked to the arrest of 11 Malaysians for involvement with militant groups in Syria and southern Philippines.

- Contributed by Farik Zolkepli

Visas only for qualified foreign students

PETALING JAYA: Foreign students coming into the country must have the required academic qualifications before they are issued student visas, said Education Malaysia Global Ser­­vices (EMGS) chief executive officer Mohd Yazid Abdul Hamid.

He said EMGS served as the first level of screening to ensure that only genuine students who had fulfilled the academic requirements were admitted and that the institutions that they appled for were pro–perly accredited.

“Once they have passed the academic screening, the Immigration department will conduct a security screening on the applicants,” Mohd Yazidsaid yesterday.

The EMGS is a one-stop-centre for international students and manages all aspects of their application.

This includes student passes, review of documents, compliance with academic requirements, issuance of student visas, medical screening and insurance coverage.

Mohd Yazid said records kept by EMGS served as a data bank to track the performance of the students.

“There are cases of those who abused their student visas. For such students, the colleges must submit attendance and academic results for yearly renewal of student visas.

“In this way, we can weed out visa holders who are not genuine students,” said Mohd Yazid.

He said foreign students had to achieve 80% class attendance and the minimum cummulative grade point average 2.0 to qualify for renewal of student visas.

- Sources: The Star/Asia News Network

Police nab man linked to Somalian terrorist group 

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin said the individual was picked up by Bukit Aman’s special branch counter-terrorism division in Selangor. ― file picture

PETALING JAYA, May 9 — The arrest of a 34-year-old east African man, believed to be a member of Somali-based militant group Al-Shabaab which has links to Al-Qaeda, has raised questions on how he managed to enter the country and if he was involved with other local militants detained over the past few days.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin, had in a press statement yesterday, said the individual was picked up by Bukit Aman’s special branch counter-terrorism division in Selangor yesterday and is believed to be linked to the Somali-based Al-Shabaab terrorist group.

“He was listed under Interpol’s Red Notice wanted list for his alleged involvement with Al-Shabaab in east Africa,” the statement read.

“Police are investigating his activities in the country to identify if there were any Al-Shabaab terrorist links or members in the country or conducting activities that could jeapordise the nation’s security.”

He is being investigated under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act.

Sources say the suspect, arrested at 4pm, has been in the country for “several weeks” and are not discounting the possibility of more Al-Shabaab members in the country.

Nine individuals, aged between 55 and 22, were arrested by the counter terrorism division on April 28 for their alleged involvement in militant activities.

Three of them were picked up in Kedah and six in Selangor. Another individual was arrested in Kuala Lumpur the following day while another suspect was nabbed in the city on May 2.

They were believed to have been planning to participate in the on-going civil war in Syria. Al-Shabaab enjoys close ties with Al-Qaeda and are believed to have aided Boko Haram militants in the attack on Nyanya Motor Park in Abuja last week claiming the lives of over 200 people.

It remains unclear if the foreigner was connected to the 11 locals arrested. Sources say it is highly unlikely but police will probe the matter.

IGP Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar had, in recent days, stressed the nation’s laws were adequate to protect Malaysia from militants and warned members of militant groups not to recruit Malaysian youths to join them.

The nation’s porous borders have been highlighted since Flight MH370 went missing on March 8 after two Iranians entered the country and boarded the Malaysia Airlines plane with fake passports.

Earlier this year, police rescued several Myanmar nationals smuggled into the country by a human trafficking syndicate through Thailand.

A series of kidnappings, abduction and robberies in Sabah’s waters, and the influx of foreigners entering the state, has also irked many parties, including Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, despite the establishment of the multi-million ringgit Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) after the Lahad Datu incursion early last year.

- Contributed by G. Prakash MalayMailOnline

 Related posts:

Philippine police fired at Chinese fishing boat; gunmen kidnapping farm manager and tourists...

Captain recalls attack by Philippine police "They rushed toward us in a boat and fired at us," He Junting, captain of the f...

MH370 deepens mystery !

Four names on manifest considered suspect on plane disappearance Video: KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Military radar indicates ...

Terrorist attack on missing MH370 not ruled out

Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the chief of Malaysia's civil aviation, said hijacking has not been ruled out as a cause of the plane's ...

Beware of Cheque scams, banks take responsibility

Senior citizens' cheques were intercepted and stampered with in separate incidents
 
PETALING JAYA: Two senior citizens nearly lost thousands of ringgit when their cheques were intercepted and tampered with in separate incidents.

In the first incident, a man who paid his utility bills through cheques sent via mail was shocked to find that the amount deducted from his account was 10 times what he had written on one of the cheques.

The foreign national, who only wanted to be known as Richard, owns a home in Malaysia.

He issued a cheque for RM200 to pay his electricity bill in November last year.

“When I received the bank statement, I was shocked to see that the amount deducted was more than RM2,000,” he said.

When the bank gave him a copy of the cheque that was deposited, he realised that the cheque had been replaced with a fake one.

“The cheque was a different one altogether and it was made to one Alan Lim @ Lim Sze Wei. Only the serial number was the same as the one I had issued and there was a forged version of my signature,” he said, adding that the design on the cheque was also different as he was still using an older version.

“I only issue cheques once or twice a month and have not changed the cheque book for years. The old version had the bank logo in the centre. The fake cheque had a completely different design without the logo in the centre,” said Richard, who is in his 80s. Richard then lodged a police report.

In the second case, an 87-year-old pensioner’s cheque was believed to be intercepted and the name of the payee and amount altered, said his daughter K.L. Wong.

She said her father routinely paid his insurance policy premiums by cheque sent via mail, which was what he did on Jan 31.

He wrote a cheque for RM169 payable to a bank’s card centre to pay for his policy and posted it the next day.

On Feb 13, Wong, who handles most her father’s accounts because he is wheelchair-bound, called the bank to check if the cheque had been cleared.

“I was told the card centre had not received it and there was no payment for the December and January premiums,” she said.

Upon checking the account balance, she discovered that RM4,600 had been deducted.

“At first, the bank thought the cheque might have been processed and paid to the wrong person.”

When she requested for a scanned image of the cheque from the bank, she discovered all the payment details had been altered.

“It was the same cheque but the original details were somehow ‘washed out’. Only my father’s signature remained. The cheque was altered to pay someone by the name of Lim Teng Yong,” she said, adding that the person was unknown to her father.

Wong said the bank admitted that it was not the first complaint it had received involving the same name being used to cash fraudulent cheques.

She added that the bank promised to investigate the matter and she lodged a police report the next day.

Richard and Wong’s father’s cheques were issued by the same bank. After internal investigations, the bank reimbursed both men.

“It was good the bank was willing to take responsibility but there is obviously a scam going on. The public should be aware of how cheques are being tampered with or forged,” said Wong.

The bank declined to comment.

- Contributed by Jastin Ahmad Tarmizi The Star/Asia News Network

Related:
1. Indus American Bank
2. Securing yourself against Fake Deposit Scams
3. CHCH – Your Superstation Buyer beware for fraudulent cheques

Old and abandoned, now newborn baby found abandoned outside house !

Rescued: The baby that was found in Kampung Sungai Sebatang in Alor Setar.

ALOR SETAR: A teenager was awakened from her sleep by the cries of a newborn baby outside her house in Kampung Sungai Sebatang off Jalan Kuala Kedah here.

Normawani Ahmad, 17, said she was awakened by the baby’s cries at about 3am yesterday.

“I looked out the window and saw the wailing infant, who was placed on a red plastic mat. I also heard someone walking away from my house while the baby was crying,” she said when met at the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital yesterday.

Normawani called her mother, who was sleeping at another daughter’s house next door. They found the baby with the umbilical cord still attached to the body.

“My mother cleaned up the baby and dressed him in my nephew’s clothes.

“We then lodged a police report,” she added.

Kota Setar OCPD Assist Comm Adzaman Mohd Jan said police were looking for the mother and the case has been classified as child abandonment under the Penal Code.

Sources: The Star/ANN

Related posts:
1. Old and abandoned by children like trash !
2. Go see your parents... or else! 

Real estate scam !

Mastermind members and 'buyer' caught in the act of dealing with would-be victim

SHAH ALAM: Two members of a real estate scam syndicate were nabbed by police while in the midst of “negotiating” a deal with a potential victim.

Police arrested the two men at a coffee shop in Jalan SS3/59, Taman Bahagia, Petaling Jaya, around 1.30pm last Friday.

Selangor Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Asst Comm Chong Mun Phing said the men, part of a real estate syndicate, were meeting with someone on a “business deal” during the operation.

“We arrested the two men, both aged 58. One of them was the mastermind of the syndicate,” she said at the state police headquarters yesterday.

She said the group’s modus operandi was that the mastermind, posing as a senior agent from a reputable real estate firm, would approach his target looking to sell or lease a business property.

“He would then get an accomplice to pose as a buyer, who would pay for the property with a post-dated cheque.

“The mastermind would also receive a post-dated cheque for his commission,” she said.

However, the mastermind would falsify the date and cash out the commission cheque before the original cheque bounces.

The police seized ATM cards, photocopies of ICs and business cards belonging to the mastermind under multiple aliases.

ACP Chong said the syndicate has been linked to at least 18 cheating cases in Selangor involving RM80,200 from their victims, with more similar cases in Kuala Lumpur and Negri Sembilan.

Sources: The Star/Asia News Network

Related post:
Ethics vital for lawyers! Force to sign documents & hit client?