In a statement, Sarawak police commissioner Azman Ahmad Sapri said the 66-year-old man from Miri claimed to have received a phone call on April 18 from a man who accused the victim of being involved in a money laundering case.

He said the caller then asked the victim to open two new bank accounts to help stop the investigation.

“The victim opened two new bank accounts at two local financial institutions on April 19 and 20 before giving the banking information and password to the man.

“The man then instructed the victim to transfer money amounting to RM1.2 million through four transactions, from his AmBank and EPF accounts, to his two newly opened bank accounts,” he said in a statement here today.

Azman said the victim only realised he had been cheated after he found that the money in both the accounts had been transferred to an unknown account in stages from April 19 to May 3.