Police nab Citibank siren who stole $2m

Police have arrested a senior female manager of Citibank identified as Malinda Dee for stealing Rp 17 billion (US$2 million) from her bank customers.

Police also seized a number of luxury possessions from the suspect, including a Hummer sport utility vehicle and a Mercedez sedan, estimated at Rp 3.4 billion, that were allegedly bought by the suspect with money that she stole from her wealth bank clients.

Police also confiscated financial transaction documents allegedly forged by the suspect.

Malinda was placed in police custody at the National Police headquarters.

Late last week, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said the suspect had forged transfer documents to move her customers’ money into her personal accounts.

Police were alerted to the alleged fraud by complaints from Citibank customers who said they had lost a combined Rp 17 billion from their bank accounts.

Anton said he expected more customers would file complaints.

On Tuesday, social media networks were abuzz with rumors about Malinda.

Pictures on the Internet allegedly of Malinda showed an attractive and well-dressed looking young woman who appeared to have undergone plastic surgery.

In one picture she is seen posing in front of several Ferrari sports cars at an undisclosed location.

Also circulating on the Web and on smartphones was a photo of her at high school.

In another photo, the suspect is seen posing in a chair, smiling. From the photo it appears that the woman has undergone breast augmentation surgery.

A colleague of Malinda said they had seen her arrives at work in the latest model luxury sedan, and another said Malinda was a senior manager who handled personal bank accounts of at least Rp 500 million.

There were conflicting rumors about her age. What appeared to be heavy makeup or extensive facial plastic surgery in some of the photos made it difficult to estimate her age.

In a related development, police arrested a bank teller, who they identified only as “D”, on suspicion that she had aided Malinda in swindling customers’ money.

“We arrested another female suspect with the initial D. We have been looking for her for the past few days and found her in Bintaro,” National Police spokesman, Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam, said on Tuesday.

D allegedly helped Malinda falsify transaction data on several bank slips, withdrawal receipts and fund transfers executed by the account holders.

The two suspects could be charged with Law No. 25/2003 on Money Laundering.

In a statement, Citibank said that it would provide protection for its customers who had become victims of the fraud.

Citibank said it would reimburse all of its customers who had lost money as a result of Malinda’s actions.

“It is our commitment to protect the interest of our customers, including swiftly repaying all customers who suffered loses in the fraudulent transaction, fairly and timely,” Citi Indonesia country corporate affairs head, Ditta Amahorseya, said in a statement.