By NELSON BENJAMIN

JOHOR BARU, MALAYSIA: At least seven people were arrested for conning people by pretending to be policemen, High Court officials and even prosecutors.

The suspects, including three women, in their 20s and 30s were nabbed in raids around the city and in Batu Pahat over the past few days.

It is learnt most of the suspects had full-time jobs to avoid detection including working as promoters and also in the sales field.

The gang is believed to have made off with more than RM2mil since last year.

It is learnt they had been involved in cases in Johor, Sarawak, Malacca and Pahang.

Johor Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Zainuddin Yaakob, when contacted confirmed the arrests and said investigations were still underway.

He however declined to elaborate.

It is learnt the group would tell the victims they were being investigated for bankruptcy, money laundering or loan shark activities.

The callers would offer to 'assist' and convince them to transfer money from their accounts, which were supposedly under investigation, into other accounts.

The victims are told the money would be returned after investigations were completed and the callers terminate communication once the money is transferred.

Singaporeans have also been conned in this scam where two people lost almost S$900,000 (RM2.07mil) several months ago.

In an unrelated case, a bank teller was arrested for cheating a businessman who wanted to deposit more than RM60,000 into his account.

The teller in his 20s, was arrested after the businessman, who regularly sought his assistance, suspected something amiss when the suspect told him the amount was short by several thousand ringgit.

A report was lodged and the teller was arrested at the bank in Permas Jaya.

Investigations showed the businessman, who has dealt with the teller in the past, could have been cheated several times before.