The luxury car smuggling syndicate busted by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on Thursday is believed to be the same one that was being investigated by a senior Customs officer who was shot dead in April.
Royal Malaysian Customs deputy director-general Datuk Shaharuddin Ibrahim was a year away from retirement when he was shot dead in his car by a motorcycle pillion rider who fired three shots that hit him in the neck and cheek.
Shaharuddin’s work had earned him the moniker “Mr Clean”.
His son, Akhtar Shaharuddin, told The Malaysian Insider recently that he believes his father’s death was linked to a car-smuggling syndicate based on the duty-free island of Langkawi in Kedah.
On Thursday, MACC detained a bank manager, her husband and another man who are believed to be smugglers of luxury cars. The arrest was also focused on fraud and money laundering.
MACC investigation director Datuk Mustafar Ali confirmed the arrest of the suspects, aged between 30 and 40, but would not reveal more details.
But Kuala Lumpur police CID deputy chief Assistant Commissioner Khairi Ahrasa said the investigation carried out by the MACC is not connected to the Shaharuddin shooting.
“I have also not received any confirmation from the commission on this,” said Khairi in a text message to The Malaysian Insider, referring to the syndicate.
Sources familiar with the case said MACC started their investigation into the case last year, following several tip-offs. Thursday’s arrests are expected to help MACC unearth more cases of fraud involving millions of ringgit allegedly linked to the syndicate, sources said.
The female suspect was detained to assist investigations into the purchase of a luxury vehicle worth RM500,000 while her husband, a director of a private company, was picked up for abetment and the disposal of the vehicle.
The car, which was allegedly registered in Langkawi was bought for RM300,000 and sold at half-a-million ringgit within three months.
Checks showed that the document issued by the Customs Department was forged and the car excise duty was not paid.
The three suspects are also being investigated for money laundering and for falsifying Customs documents to avoid paying millions of ringgit in excise duty for luxury cars.
It is understood that the syndicate has been in operation for more than a year.
It was being investigated by Shaharuddin, who was shot dead on April 26 in the administrative capital, just weeks before gun-related violence spiked in the country.
The 58-year-old Shaharuddin was in the front passenger seat of a four-wheel-drive vehicle when two men on a motorcycle pulled up alongside at 8.20am as the vehicle stopped at a traffic-light junction heading towards Lebuh Wawasan. That was when the pillion rider fired the three shots.
The Negri Sembilan-born Shaharuddin served the department for over 30 years and headed the Customs and Internal Tax Unit division. – September 8, 2013.
