KUALA LUMPUR: Police have released the names of 21 lawyers, aged between 34 and 69, who are wanted for 39 alleged criminal breach of trust and cheating cases involving RM30.4 million between 2012 and 2019.
Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Datuk Seri Mohd Zakaria Ahmad said eight of them were wanted for prosecution while the rest to assist in investigations.
Zakaria said cross checks with the Immigration Department revealed five were residing overseas while 16 are still in the country.
"They were found to have abused their client money for personal use, or failed to pay damages to victims who had trusted them.
"Police have been trying to trace those in the country based on their last known address, but have not been successful so far.
"Hence, we hope they will surrender to the police. Meanwhile, those with information can report to the nearest police station or contact the police officers in charge," he told reporters at the CCID headquarters today.
On the wanted list is Michael Persius Ubu, 62, who is also wanted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission over a cheating case involving the sale of an oil palm land worth RM155 million in Sabah that also allegedly involves a Parti Warisan Sabah leader.
On a separate matter, Zakaria said police were also tracking down 117 individuals who are believed to be involved in loan shark activities.
"Of that, 50 are wanted to be charged at court and 63 to assist in police investigations. Police are also in the midst of obtaining arrest warrants against the remaining four," he added.
Zakaria said police had launched Ops Vulture between Sept 10 and Sept 30 to curb "Ah Long" activities.
"During the operation, 199 Ah Long premises and 536 licensed money lenders were inspected with 235 arrests made. 221 money lenders were linked to Ah Long and 14 were picked up from licensed money lenders for various offences.
"We hope with the arrests, victims who have been constantly threatened by the Ah Longs with unreasonable demands, can breathe easier now," he added.
Zakaria revealed police had received a total of 2,889 Ah Long case from 2017 until September this year, and 1,891 are unsolved cases.