KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 — Police have busted an organised crime group, the ‘Nicky Gang’, with the arrest of 68 individuals and seizure of hundreds of thousands of ringgit in cash and assets worth millions in 70 raids conducted in Selangor and Klang Valley.
Describing this gang as violent and dangerous, Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador said the Nicky Gang was believed to be involved in international organised crime, Macau Scam and money laundering.
“In this operation, 70 raids were conducted to track down and arrest the gang members led by Datuk Seri Nicky Liow Soon Hee, aged 33, and also the founder of Winner Dynasty Group which is headquartered in Setiawalk Puchong, Selangor.
“We also seized a Glock 17 pistol, a magazine containing nine bullets and cash in various currencies valued at RM773,145 and luxurious vehicles worth RM6.67 million,” he said at a special media conference in Bukit Aman, here, today.
Following this, police are on the hunt for Datuk Seri Nicky Liow Soon Hee, who is believed to be still in hiding in the country.
Those arrested in the operation conducted from March 20 to 28 were 48 individuals under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA) 2012, 11 Chinese nationals and one from Myanmar under the Immigration Act 1959/63, and eight locals for drug offences after the urine tests done found them to be positive.
Among those arrested was a woman with a ‘Datuk’ title and five men including two younger brothers of Nicky Liow’s, aged 28 and 30, with the ‘Datuk’ and ‘Datuk Seri’ titles, respectively.
Abdul Hamid said among the luxurious vehicles seized were a Rolls Royce, Bentley, Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, Alphard (five), Velfire (two) and Volkswagen (two) while the currencies were that of the US, Britain, Hong Kong, India, China, Thailand and Singapore.
Police have also frozen 41 bank accounts involving a sum of over RM4 million and seized a total of 35 vehicles (linked to 21 individuals and 16 entities including Yayasan Winner Emperor Sedunia and Pertubuhan Integriti Nicky Liow Malaysia), under Section 44(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
“Based on the intelligence gathered, the task force also disclosed that Winner Dynasty Group and Nicky Liow are believed to have connections with the international organised crime element, Wan Kouk Koi @ Broken Tooth.
“Our checks also revealed that Wan Kuok Koi @ Broken Tooth has been blacklisted by the US Treasury last December as it was believed to been involved in international organised crime and money laundering.
“Broken Tooth has also been linked to a scandal involving share investment in Inix Technologies and Tse Chi Lop, the alleged kingpin of an international drug trafficking syndicate and who was detained in the Netherlands last Jan 24,” Abdul Hamid said.
He said the police initial investigation found that the Nicky Gang targeted investors from China, promising them very high returns by investing in real estate, health products, forex and the cryptocurrency, Wincoin and Winbitex, owned by him (Nicky Liow).
“The investors would invest through the WeChat application by using WeChat Pay and the money would be invested in the cryptocurrency and online gambling. To withdraw the money, the services of money changers and casino junket agents would be used to deceive the authorities,” he added.
Abdul Hamid said investigations into the case were also being conducted under the Penal Code, Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) 2021 and Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA) 2012.
The police special operation was launched following intelligence gathering by the Johor Commercial Crime Investigation Department after the ‘Op Pelican 2.0’ mounted against Macau Scam activities.
Asked about the link between the ‘14K Triad’ and the syndicate (Nicky Gang), Abdul Hamid said it was linked to the 14K Triad overseas.
Meanwhile, Johor police chief, Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay who was also present at the special news conference, said the 14K Triad which started from the Broken Tooth gang had appointed Nicky Liow as president of the Hongmen History and Culture Association.
“All the transactions that we traced went to the Hongmen History and Culture Association which is linked to the 14K Triad,” he added.
— Bernama
