Batu Pahat district police chief ACP Abdul Wahib Musa said the 62-year-old man lost his money when he made payment transactions to four accounts belonging to the syndicate, purportedly for bail and legal fees.

“The victim, a retired medical assistant in the state Health Department, lodged a report on Saturday claiming that he received a telephone call on May 17 from a man who introduced himself as a Customs officer from Alor Setar.

“The man told the victim that he had committed an offence by smuggling an iPad from Thailand.

“As such, the Customs Department in Alor Star had issued a warrant for his arrest for failing to pay the goods and services tax (GST) on the iPad,” said Wahib in a statement today.

He said the victim was then contacted by two women and a man claiming to be inspectors and a sergeant from Alor Star, who could help settle the matter.

He said one of the women ordered the victim to reveal details about his bank accounts which contained more than RM200,000, which was the victim’s savings, and to transfer the total into one of the accounts.

Wahib said the woman also asked the victim to pay for legal fees and other expenses into several bank accounts between May 21 and June 2.

He said the victim went to a bank on Saturday to check his account balance and found only a few ringgit left.

“Police are investigating the case under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. They are looking for two men and two women.

“Police are also tracking four bank account holders, all men, under whose names the victim had deposited the money,” he said.

Wahib advised the public to check with the police or banks to avoid being cheated.