Datuk sought over RM21million land scam
The Star 30/7/2005 BY LOURDES CHARLES

KUALA LUMPUR: A well-known property developer who is a Datuk is being sought by police for alleged involvement in a land scam worth RM21mil.

It is learnt that the City Police Commercial Crimes Department have arrested three people and are looking for at least five more, including the Datuk, who were alleged to have duped the KL Land Office into transferring ownerships of land to their name.

Sources said the City Police Commercial Crimes Department busted the syndicate's activities following a report lodged last month by the director of a company who owned the land.

They said the Datuk and his accomplices had duped the Land Office during the upgrading of its computerisation programme. (The Land Office had previously recorded the transactions manually and had only recently been fully computerised.)

They said the Datuk and his accomplices had mortgaged the land to an insurance company for more than RM10mil and were in the process of obtaining more money for the land when the police moved in.

The sources also said that the scam was exposed when the owner of the land, who is a company director, went to pay quit rent at the KL Land Office and was told that the quit rent had already been paid.

Upon further enquiries, the director was told by a land officer that he was not the owner of the land. The director then furnished proof to the Land Office and later lodged a report at the City Police Commercial Crimes Department.

A task force headed by City Commercial Crimes chief ACP Mohamad Arif and Deputy Supt Mohamad Shariff Wahid conducted a series of operations that led to the arrest of three suspects.

They have been remanded and are expected to be charged soon.

City Chief Police Officer Deputy Commissioner Datuk Mustafa Abdullah confirmed the report and the arrests.

“We have solved the case and are looking for several more suspects whose identity are known to us,” he said.