Police are on the trail of individuals suspected of withdrawing RM111,000 out of the accounts of four victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared in mid-flight this past March.
The missing money was noticed on July 18 by a manager of the bank in which the accounts were maintained.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Senior Deputy Commissioner Datuk Tajuddin Md Isa told The Star Online‘s Austin Camoens that both the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and the bank in question were conducting investigations on the matter.
“We have identified the suspects involved and are gathering more evidence before we take further action,” he said at PDRM headquarters today.
“Do not speculate on this matter and allow us to conduct a thorough investigation.”
City Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) chief Assistant Commissioner Izany Abdul Ghany said the suspects had made unauthorised transfers of funds from the accounts of three MH370 passengers into the account of a fourth victim.
“The suspects then made an internet transfer of RM35,000 to another account, believed to be that of one of the suspects, two weeks prior to July 18 and made ATM withdrawals of RM5,000 daily until the account was empty.
“We are now trying to trace the identity of the suspect who opened that account.,” he said.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. While no trace of the jetliner has yet been found, investigators believe the aircraft crashed somewhere in the Indian Ocean, and that none of the 239 people on board had survived.
