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KUALA LUMPUR \u2013 A Malaysian businessman escaped from the clutches of a job scam syndicate in Cambodia after his wife lodged a police report and a RM6,000 (S$1,900) ransom was paid \u2013 but some 700 others are still trapped there.<\/p>\n
Many are facing torture in captivity, says Mr Muhammad Syafiq Pubalan Abdullah, 40.<\/p>\n
The victims, aged between 17 and 35, were often beaten up, he said.<\/p>\n
He, too, was beaten up daily during his first week there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey would beat the women with a belt. I heard a female victim was raped by 11 people after her mother filed a police report.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was also forced to eat pork a few times, and if we didn\u2019t, they would beat us up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was given the handphone for a short period of time and I used that to call my wife. Even then, my call would be monitored,\u201d he said, adding that he stayed at a hostel with eight Malaysian roommates.<\/p>\n
Mr Muhammad Syafiq said a friend, whom he had known for 12 years, had urged him to open a Malaysian restaurant in Cambodia because there were none there.<\/p>\n
Believing the \u201cfriend\u201d, he travelled from Alor Setar to Bangkok, where a driver picked him up and took him to Cambodia, he told a press conference organised by Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association (PPIM) here.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey avoided the usual route, so I wouldn\u2019t know how to return. Thai police were involved. In Phnom Penh, I saw a small town and a casino. Soldiers guarded my workplace.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey told us to scam people through phone calls,\u201d he said, adding that he saw around 700 Malaysians there.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe pretended to be officers from a cybersecurity agency from Singapore and asked people about a fake job advertisement in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to file a denial report, we would ask their IC numbers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith that, we could trace almost everything. Under my watch, one Singaporean was scammed out of S$67,000.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Muhammad Syafiq\u2019s escape came after his wife, Ms Jamilah Ahmad, 42, sensed something wrong during one of his calls.<\/p>\n
Ms Jamilah then posted a video about her husband\u2019s ordeal and revealed the \u201cfriend\u201d too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI managed to call the \u2018friend\u2019 and asked him to bring my husband back. They first asked for RM6,000, which I couldn\u2019t pay.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told the agent I had filed a second police report and named him. Two days later, they allowed my husband to return,\u201d said the mother of two, who believes the \u201cfriend\u201d paid the RM6,000.<\/p>\n
PPIM has urged the authorities to arrest the agent and secure the release of the 700 Malaysians.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith scam cases on the rise, we need a specialised department to deal with them,\u201d said PPIM chief and activist Nadzim Johan. THE STAR\/ASIA NEWS NETWORK<\/p>\n<\/div>\n