SHAH ALAM (Jan 15): A husband and wife, who own a travel agency, were arrested in Kuala Lumpur at 7pm on Wednesday in connection with allegations of failing to fly out a group of umrah pilgrims on Tuesday.

Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) of the Selangor police contingent headquarters (IPK) also seized several computers, passports and related documents.

He said the arrest of the 31-year-old couple was carried out after his department received a police report in Sepang regarding an umrah fraud case involving the agency at 10.39pm on Tuesday.

“The complainant was a 39-year-old woman who reported losing RM11,000 because she was stranded and unable to perform umrah.

“Following that, police opened an investigation paper under Section 420 of the Penal Code,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.

Hussein said further checks revealed that 379 victims had dealt with the company and were also stranded on the same date, involving an estimated total loss of RM2.1 million.

He said initial investigations found that the agency opened business two years ago and moved to a three-storey building in Sepang last October.

“The modus operandi used by the suspects was to enlist prospective pilgrims through advertisements on the company’s TikTok app about umrah packages and to contact agents appointed by them,” he explained.

Earlier, a Bernama investigation found that police, through the Selangor CCID IPK team, began investigating the agency’s office in Sepang and Selangor CCID head Datuk Saiman Kasman was seen arriving at the office at 2pm.

The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) said in a statement that it was investigating a licensed tourism agency that allegedly failed to fly umrah pilgrims on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, media reports said more than 300 umrah pilgrims were stranded when they were promised to be flown out but were left stranded on the day of departure.

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