Police under probe over stolen cars

Bukit Aman is investigating several police officers for their alleged link with a syndicate specialising in re-selling stolen vehicles.

PETALING JAYA: Bukit Aman police are investigating several of their own men over an alleged link with a syndicate selling stolen cars, sources said today.

The officers are being investigated for allegedly handing over stolen cars which have been recovered by police, to the syndicate instead of returning them to their rightful owners.

These stolen cars would then be re-conditioned and resold to unsuspecting second-hand car dealers or private owners.

It is also alleged that the syndicate has contacts in the Road Transport Department who would ensure the “re-conditioned” cars would not be blacklisted.

A source said that the syndicate’s cover was blown open last year when investigators from an insurance company was preparing to reimburse a victim of a car theft. They had tracked down the stolen car which had been re-conditioned.

“The insurance agency then found out that there were many cases where these stolen cars are on the road or being sold, and lodged a police report,” the source said.

Bukit Aman then swung to action and has been confiscating these “second-hand” cars since early this year.
The source also said that more light was shed on the syndicate when police conducted a highly publicised raid at a warehouse at Taman Wahyu, Kepong, in July last year. There they uncovered a “mini zoo” of illegally traded wildlife.

In the raid, police also recovered 42 stolen vehicles worth about RM1 million. Two men were arrested.
Police had said then that the syndicate members would disguise themselves as insurance agents specialising in stealing impounded cars.

Disciplinary unit
When contacted, Bukit Aman CID director Mohd Bakri Zinin said today he could only reveal more details on Monday after a briefing from his men.

Bakri said he had received several calls since the case was highlighted by DAP’s Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng in a press conference earlier today.

Lim, who lodged a report at the Sentul police district headquarters, claimed that over 60 cars have been confiscated by Bukit Aman’s disciplinary division. It is believed that the syndicate has been operating for at least two years.

Lim claimed that the fact that the disciplinary unit was looking into the case showed that police are investigating their own men.

“The only role of the (disciplinary) unit is to investigate police wrongdoings. Under normal circumstances, stolen car cases are under a different department,” he told FMT.

Lim said he has been receiving more than 15 complaints from used-car dealers from Selayang, Serdang, and Kepong since December last year.

“The latest complaint – from Setiawan, Perak – prompted me to lodge the report today because we now have documents to prove that the police may be involved in foul play,” he said.

He said that another owner was robbed of his Mercedes C200 Compressor on March 13, 2009, and had lodged a police report and made an insurance claim.

“An undated letter from an Inspector Saiful Irwan Abdul Hamid from the CID department in Ampang Jaya district police headquarters stated that the car was found and returned to the owner, but he never got back his car,” said Lim.


Chassis number

A senior officer from Ampang Jaya confirmed that there was an officer by the same name.
Instead, a second-hand car dealer, Pang Koo Tak, from Setiawan had bought the same car but it had been refitted with a different registration number.

“However, Pang was shocked when the car was confiscated on Jan 19 this year by a police officer named Razlam Ab Hamid from the Bukit Aman disciplinary department. He was told the chassis number was the same as that of the stolen vehicle,” said Lim.

Pang then approached Lim to help get back the car as he was still servicing the car loan.
Lim questioned if RTD and Puspakom were involved as the departments had cleared the car given by the syndicate for inspection.

He said many of the used-car dealers who came to him told him that they had checked with all the relevant departments, including the police, RTD and insurance companies and found that the cars were not blacklisted.

Lim said that as a result, car buyers, used-car sellers and insurance companies are suffering.
Meanwhile, MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Michael Chong said he has also received similar complaints.