The suspects, aged 62 and 40, were picked up on Feb 14 and 18, respectively.

This followed a police report lodged by a security officer of the Istana Anak Bukit on Feb 12.

According to state police commercial crime investigation department chief Supt Chan Teck Paing, a palace security officer lodged the report after receiving a WhatsApp message from an individual.

The individual wanted verification on a fund set up under the name of the Raja Muda of Kedah to bring gold bars taken during the British Occupation, he told Bernama at the state police contingent headquarters today.

Chan said prior to the arrests, the ring of confidence tricksters had deceived many victims of more than RM342,000 in lieu of the bogus fund since last December.

“Based on our investigations, it was found the modus operandi of the group was to hoodwink potential victims into believing they would be rewarded if they contributed to the fund to bring home gold bars purportedly worth billions of ringgit.

“The group had also claimed the so-called fund was under the auspices of the Raja Muda of Kedah. They said the money was needed for the release of 200 gold bars that were stored abroad, now that the 200-year agreement between the British and two overseas banks had ended.

“They deceived victims by promising them huge returns. For those who contributed RM11,000 to the fund, they were promised a RM300 million reward.

“So far, none of the victims have come forward to lodge police reports,” he added.

Meanwhile, the police are seeking three individuals to facilitate investigations into the case.

They are a couple, aged 57 and 60, whose last known address was Jalan Kempas, Johor Bahru, and a former policeman, aged 35, from Taman Sejati Indah, Sungai Petani, Kedah.