Almost $46,000 worth of mystery withdrawals made from MH17
passengers' accounts
The Star / Asia News Network
Aug 14, 2014
Withdrawals of up to SGD$46,000 (RM111,000) have been detected from
the bank accounts of four passengers of the doomed MH370 flight
that vanished early March.
City Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Asst Comm
Izany Abdul Ghany said the amount was withdrawn through a number of
ATM transactions.
The bank concerned noticed the suspicious withdrawals on July 18.
Following an internal investigation, the bank lodged a police
report on Aug 2.
“We are investigating the case as unauthorised access with intent
to commit an offence,” ACP Izany told reporters after the
handing-over of duties at the Cheras district police headquarters
here yesterday.
The offence, under Section 4(1) of the Computer Crimes Act 1997,
provides for a fine of up to RM150,000 or imprisonment not
exceeding 10 years, or both.
ACP Izany did not rule out the possibility of an inside job, adding
that police were investigating the case from all angles.
“We are getting CCTV footage from the bank to identify the suspects
involved,” he said, adding that those with information on the
matter should call the police hotline at 03-2115-9999 or report at
the nearest police station.
It has been more than five months since MH370 went missing on March
8 while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and the flight was
thought to have ended somewhere in the south Indian Ocean based on
satellite data provided by Inmarsat.
At one time, a multi-national team, including the United States,
New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, was looking for the plane,
which went missing with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on
board.
Last week, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said he
would meet Australian leaders soon to sign a memorandum of
understanding on the two countries’ collaboration in their search
for MH370.
Liow also gave his commitment that the search for MH370 would
continue despite the recent tragedy of MH17, which was believed to
have been shot down by missile over eastern Ukraine.
The search is ongoing as the Government is working on identifying
the bodies of Malaysians killed in the MH17 incident, he reportedly
said.
The Australian government, said Liow, had announced that it
tendered out a section of the searchwork to a specialised team.
It was also reported that the search tender had been awarded to
Dutch company Fugro.
STOMP
