A 5-month search has found nothing and all passengers of MH370 are believed dead. So, how was money withdrawn from bank accounts of four of them? Malaysian police believe they have the answer.
It has been more than five months since Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 mysteriously disappeared.All 239 people onboard are believed to be dead, somewhere on the bottom of the southern Indian Ocean. A massive search has thus far found nothing.
Thus, it was a big surprise when it was found that the equivalent of $30,000 had been withdrawn from the Malaysian bank accounts of four passengers aboard the missing flight.
Kuala Lumpur's City Commercial Crime Investigation Department said the unnamed bank detected the transactions July 18 and, following an internal investigation, filed a police complaint Aug 2.
It was not a case of the dead withdrawing their money. Malaysian police have arrested a bank officer and her husband and accused them of stealing the money.
The couple have been held in police custody since Thursday on suspicion of withdrawing 110,643 ringgit (1.1 million baht) from the accounts of two Malaysian and two Chinese passengers on the doomed flight, said Zainuddin Ahmad, a district police chief in Kuala Lumpur.
Police are also looking for a Pakistani man who is believed to have received part of the money in his account through an online transfer, he added.
"We believe he is still in the country," Zainuddin told AFP.
Story adapted from bangkokpost.com reports
