[ad_1]
Abang Johari (third right) receives a token of appreciation from Mustafar (third left) while Fatimah (second right) and others look on. – Photo by Roystein Emmor
KUCHING (June 14): Commercial crime cases in Sarawak accounted for 8.3 per cent, or 2,461 cases of the 30,536 reported in Malaysia last year, said Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He said according to statistics from the police, this resulted in a total loss of RM63.7 million with 1,050 arrests.
“According to loss projections, the Macau Scam was the highest with a loss of RM13 million involving 246 cases, followed by fraud cases involving impersonation of a contact with a loss of RM4.2 million (183 cases), and online job fraud cases involving 225 cases with a loss of RM2.9 million,” he said when officiating the Financial Crime Prevention and Collaboration Seminar here today.
He said the police statistics showed that the 30,536 commercial crime cases in the country last year involved a loss of RM1.73 billion compared to 31,490 cases in 2021 with a total loss of RM2.2 billion.
“Despite the decrease in cases, the number of arrests in 2022 increased to 20,252, compared to 16,778 arrests in 2021.
“Online fraud crime cases were the largest component of the overall commercial crime with 65.6 per cent for 2022 and 65.7 per cent for 2021 with the total loss increasing to RM684.5 million in 2022 compared to RM560.8 million for 2021,” he said.
With Sarawak and Malaysia exposed to the risk of similar financial crimes, he said it is therefore imperative that more effective strategies, approaches, and action plans be implemented more efficiently and effectively to prevent this risk from spreading.
Abang Johari said the Sarawak government will continue to focus on being actively and proactively involved in fighting commercial crime and implementing more effective prevention efforts to protect the interests of Sarawakians.
“A similar approach has been implemented at Bank Negara Malaysia Kuching which has created a special communication platform since 2019, involving administrative and enforcement agencies in Sarawak, especially in the fight against fraud or scam crimes.
“The platform or seminar that is held is able to be one of the main mediums for various agencies to share initiatives and best practices in raising awareness about financial fraud, sharing the modus operandi of financial fraud, sharing market intelligence and so on,” he said.
He also said that the state government will continue to provide full cooperation in integrated enforcement efforts with all enforcement agencies involved.
“This includes sharing the information required for the analysis and investigation of high-impact financial crime cases.
“I am convinced that we can achieve a better impact on financial crime operations through integrated enforcement and prevention actions as opposed to enforcement actions by one agency or in silos.
“Involved agencies also need to consider legislative changes that need to be made so that appropriate legal action and penalties can be imposed against serious financial crimes in Sarawak,” he said.
He added that he had also requested for law enforcement agencies involved, including the National Anti-Financial Crime Centre (NFCC), to continue to focus on the agenda of dealing with financial crimes in Sarawak.
Also present were Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah and NFCC director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali.
[ad_2]