KUALA LUMPUR: One of the biggest Ah Long syndicates in the country has been busted by police.

In the space of less than 12 hours starting from 1pm on Friday, police arrested the mastermind and his wife. She was the accountant for the syndicate which had a turnover of RM8mil per month.

In total, 13 people, aged between 23 and 32, including three women, were picked up when police raided the syndicate’s office in Puchong and other nearby locations.

RM1.6mil worth of assets were also seized, including nine cars and about RM82,800 in cash.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department deputy director (Intelligence and Operations) Senior Asst Comm Roslan Abd Wahid said this bust was one of the biggest in the past two years by the police.

“This group had been operating actively for two years in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Johor.

“They are very organised and have a strict hierarchy,” he told a press conference at the department’s headquarters in Menara 238 yesterday.

SAC Roslan said that so far police had received 19 reports against the syndicate from victims who owed it about RM2mil.

“There are many who do not want to come forward to lodge police reports because they likely feel embarrassed.

“Based on the records confiscated, we calculate that the syndicate had a turnover of about RM8mil per month,” he said.

Pictures of the arrested suspects who are believed to be members of one of the biggest Ah Long syndicates in the country.

The syndicate regularly loaned out RM100,000 to RM200,000 to victims with an interest rate of 15%.

“They are even creative in their marketing. Their calling card is made to look like a RM100 note on one side, while their contact details are printed on the other side,” he said, adding that the syndicate ran its activities behind the name of a shell company.

SAC Roslan said police are certain the group had stashed away most of their ill gotten gains in the form of properties and hidden cash.

“We are working closely with the Anti-Money Laundering Association to detect these hidden assets and confiscate them,” he said.

He said that the issue of Ah Long and illegal money lenders was an ever increasing problem with 359 cases and RM4.74mil lent in the first four months of this year alone.

“That is higher than the total reported amount of RM4.53mil for 2014.

In 2015, the reported amount lent by these syndicates was RM31.4mil.

“So this is a very worrying trend,” he said, urging the public to stay away from unlicensed money lenders.