KL bank foils swindle bid

KL bank foils swindle bid

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): Officials at Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Bhd foiled a bid by a Filipino man to swindle the bank out of $250 million using a forged draft, the national Bernama news agency said yesterday.

The incident was the second such fraud attempt faced by the bank. In January, two Americans were arrested in the United States after trying to defraud the bank with fake time drafts worth $600 million.

Bernama said in the latest incident the Filipino, believed to be in his 30s, opened a savings account with 271 ringgit ($109) at Bank Bumiputra's branch in the east Malaysian state of Sabah on Jan. 25.

Four days later he deposited a forged draft, supposedly originating from the Bahamas, for $250 million, the agency said.

Bank officials initially accepted the draft and issued the man a receipt, but later found out from another bank that the note had been forged, the report said. Police believe the suspect has left Malaysia and have sought Interpol's assistance to track him.