MH370: $37,000 withdrawn from victims' accounts after plane went missing

Four Malaysian MH370 victims have had more than $37,000 withdrawn from their accounts, leaving their grieving families baffled.

City Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Assistant Commander Izany Abdul confirmed the cash machine withdrawals took place in July, four months after the doomed Boeing-777 disappeared without a trace.

"We are investigating the case as unauthorised access with intent to commit an offence," he said.

A bank believed to be in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian noticed the unusual activity on July 18 and later lodged an official complaint with police on August 2.

The offence face fines of up to $55,000 and imprisonment for up to 10 years under Malaysian law.

Mr Izany said he had not yet ruled out an insider job at the bank and police were "investigating all the angles".

"We are getting CCTV footage from the bank to identify the suspects involved," he said.

"Anyone with information should report it to the nearest police station."

Mystery still shrouds MH370 some five months after it went missing on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Australia has been leading the hunt for the plane which is believed to have ended somewhere in the south Indian Ocean based on satellite data provided by British company Inmarsat.

The doomed flight was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, including six Australians.

Last week Malaysian Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said he would meet with Prime Minister Tony Abbott to sign a "memorandum of understanding" on the two countries' collaboration on the search.

Liow also gave his commitment that the search for MH370 would continue despite the recent tragedy of MH17, which was shot down by a Buk missile over Ukraine. 

Source: Mirror
Author: Chloe Ross, Approving editor: Simon Black