Investigating officers of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) have today successfully conducted raids based on public complaints on two office premises alleged to have conducted illegal deposit-taking activities at Wisma Merdeka, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Several documents were seized during the raids. Police officers from the Commercial Crime Division of Sabah Police Head Quarters assisted in the raids.

BNM will commence investigations on the operators of the alleged illegal deposit-taking activities, an offence under Section 25(1) of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 (Bafia). If they are found to have contravened the said section, action will be taken to prosecute them.

Under the scheme offered by the alleged operators, depositors have to sign agreements whereby they will not be given any returns during the first 90 days. Thereafter, the operators will pay the depositors 20 % of their capital every 30 days for the following six months.

Under Bafia, only licensed financial institutions are allowed to accept deposits. Licensed financial institutions are the commercial banks, finance companies, merchant banks and discount houses.

Members of the public are reminded not to participate in any illegal deposit-taking schemes to avoid losses and become victims of such scams. Upon conviction, an illegal deposit-taking operator can be punished with imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or with a fine up to RM10 million, or with both such imprisonment or fine.