The arrests, announced on Thursday, came just days after Malaysia’s king had issued a blunt warning about corruption within the civil service and police ranks, cautioning that such practices were on his “radar”.
Selangor police chief Shazeli Kahar said the officers were taken into custody following a complaint filed on February 6 by one of eight alleged victims, who local media said were aged between 25 and 45.
The group claim they were robbed when police stormed a bungalow in Kajang district, outside Kuala Lumpur, confiscating their phones and laptops before coercing one of them to transfer digital assets to a specific cryptocurrency account, local English-language daily New Straits Times reported.
“Immediate action was taken and 12 police officers were arrested to assist investigations,” Shazeli said in a statement. He confirmed that the case was being treated as a gang robbery involving a foreign national’s cryptocurrency but did not provide additional details.