KUALA LUMPUR — Police have arrested five more men in ongoing investigations into the cross-border Mobility Beyond Imagination (MBI) Ponzi-style investment scam, adding to the earlier eight arrested.
The five, all locals, include a businessman with the “Tan Sri” title and another with a “Datuk Seri”, said Bukit Aman’s Money Crime Investigation Team chief, Datuk Muhamed Hasbullah Aliq.
The five are under remand for five to six days to assist in investigations, added Muhamed Hasbullah, whose team is under the Office of the Inspector-General of Police.
They were arrested in the Klang Valley and in the northern regions of the peninsular from April 18 till yesterday, the Malay Mail reported him saying at a press conference today.
Assets seized in the recent operations include durian orchards estimated to be worth over RM223.6 million in total, covering three plots of land in Raub, Pahang; Jawi, Penang; and Tasek, Kedah.
Three business were also seized – a palm oil processing factory in Selama, Kedah; a hotel in Penang; and, a property development company also in Penang.
Additionally, 299 bank accounts with a total value of RM123,614,594.35 were also seized, as were 12 luxury vehicles, a luxury wristwatch, five mobile phones, one computer and various documents.
According to Hasbullah, an undisclosed amount of cash in Malaysian ringgit was also seized.
The total estimated value of all frozen and seized assets is now RM3.5 billion, following the latest operation.
In late March, in an earlier round of raids against the MBI investment scam syndicate, police arrested eight people and seized assets valued at RM3.17 billion.
They included 638 bank and share accounts worth over RM1.16 billion, and 35 properties valued at over RM2 billion.
Among the eight arrested earlier were two businessmen and two lawyers.
The cross-border scam, known as MBI Investments, is based in a neighbouring country and its operators were marked with Interpol red notices, according to media reports.
It was reported previously that MBI founder Tedy Teow Wooi Huat was extradited in August last year from Thailand to China to face fraud charges involving Chinese scam victims.
Teow had been arrested by Thai authorities in 2022 after his visa was revoked. He is accused of orchestrating a pyramid scheme, deceiving investors, and operating a multi-level marketing scam. – April 22, 2025