Bukit Aman commercial crime investigation department (CCID) director Ramli Yoosuf said the suspects, aged between 33 and 57, were currently under investigation.

He said the transfers were possibly orchestrated by a syndicate, with the involvement of “insiders” from the PTG.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that the syndicate hired these insiders to exploit the system by deleting and erasing records related to property ownership transfers.

“We are conducting further investigations to identify others implicated in this crime,” he told a press conference at the CCID headquarters in Bukit Aman today, Bernama reported.

Ramli added that the transfers would not have occurred without insider involvement and urged the public not to collude with such syndicates.

“There have been cases where landowners found their names missing from official records when checking with the land office.

“This (land transfer) process is highly complex and cannot happen without deliberate action,” he added.

To date, seven investigation papers have been opened over the land transfer cartel, involving land totalling over 9.4ha and overall losses estimated at RM7.1 million.