KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has frozen over 20 bank accounts involving RM740,000 as part of an investigation into alleged embezzlement of public donation funds.
According to a MACC source, these accounts are believed to belong to individuals and companies associated with an online fundraising platform.
The anti-graft body, through its Anti-Money Laundering Division (AML), has seized the accounts to aid an ongoing investigation. There are indications that more accounts may be seized and frozen in the near future, the source revealed.
Confirming the development to Scoop, MACC’s AML director, Datuk Mohamad Zamri Zainul Abidin, said that the affected bank accounts include those belonging to the influencer couple currently under remand.
He also clarified that the seizure and freezing of accounts were conducted under Section 44 of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
The source added that the anti-graft body, through its Anti-Money Laundering Division (AML), has confiscated the accounts to assist with the ongoing investigation and that there may be more accounts that will be seized and frozen soon.
Previously, Scoop reported that the remand period for individuals recently apprehended by MACC, including the influencer couple, has been extended for three days until July 16 to facilitate the ongoing investigation.
The suspects nabbed are believed to have committed embezzlement since 2020, as the donations collected via fundraising were not properly channelled to their intended targets.
It is estimated that the total funds raised through donations reached about RM3 million.
Before their arrest, a Facebook account alleged that the couple had been collecting donations for personal use, sparking widespread attention on social media.
The account further claimed that the social media personality was willing to stir up controversy about their family as long as they stayed in the public spotlight. – July 15, 2024
