(Note of editor: The story has been updated on Oct 28, 2022 @7.27am)
By Ashley Sim
KUCHING, Oct 26: Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman Chong Chieng Jen urges the police to be more proactive in handling scam cases involving banks.
Chong assisted a victim, only identified as Kuan, to file another police report today after her entire life savings of RM21,400 were transferred from her Fixed Deposit (FD) account to the savings accounts of several people she does not know.
Chong revealed that Kuan first filed a police report on Oct 24. In the report, the victim claimed her money had been illegally transferred, and an investigation officer was immediately assigned to the case.
The victim said that the police later instructed her to change her police report from “not for police action” to “for bank reference”.
“Prior to this, we attempted to contact the bank of the individuals [who received Kuan’s money], but they refused to provide us with the individuals’ information due to the Personal Data Protection Act.
“Therefore, we need the police to intervene and investigate all of the account holders to whom the money was transferred, as the police have the authority to collect the personal information of these account holders,” Chong told reporters today at a press conference at the Sekama Police Station here.
He stated that it is shocking when even fixed bank deposits are not secure.
“People stealing money from right under your nose through your bank accounts is a crime, and I have yet to see anyone imprisoned for it.
“This will only erode public trust in the local banking system,” he added.
Chong, who is also the Padungan assemblyman, added that a new government after the general election will hopefully take these scam matters involving banks seriously and try to put an end to the cases.
He also claimed that scam cases have been on the rise over the years, and the current government has done nothing to stop the perpetrators from taking advantage of innocent victims. — DayakDaily
