KUALA LUMPUR: Fourteen premises, including three operated by licensed money services business operators, located in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, were raided by a joint operation conducted by Bank Negara Malaysia recently.
The joint-raiding operation by the central bank, together with the National Revenue Recovery Enforcement Team (NRRET) of the Attorney-General's Chambers, the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP), and the Immigration Department, was conducted to hunt down networks of illegal money services business operators.
To facilitate the investigation, Bank Negara said relevant documents were seized and bank accounts were frozen.
In a statement, the central bank said the raid saw 12 suspects, including eight foreign nationals, arrested and remanded, and 23 individuals questioned.
The op also resulted in the seizure of cash, both ringgit and foreign currencies, gold wafers and luxury vehicles, valued at more than RM18 million.
Bank Negara said the premises were raided for suspected offences under the Money Services Business Act 2011 (MSBA) and the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFA).
Any person who carries out money services business activities, such as money changing and remittances, without a license commits an offence under section 4(1) of the MSBA and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding RM5 million or imprisonment not exceeding 10 years, or both.
Any person who engages in money laundering activities commits an offence under section 4(1) of AMLATFA and shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding 15 years and a fine of not less than five times the sum or value of the proceeds of an unlawful activity, or instrumentalities at the time the offence was committed or RM5 million, whichever is higher.
Bank Negara said members of the public are advised not to conduct any money changing or remittance transactions with illegal money services business operators.
Any person who conducts transactions with an illegal money services business operator does so at their own risk, and appropriate legal action can also be taken against them by the relevant authorities.
It said members of the public should conduct their transactions only with licensed money services business operators which are listed in BNM's website (www.bnm.gov.my).