Police: Husband mastermind behind wife's robbery to make false insurance claim

BENTONG - A man was arrested on Monday on suspicion of being the mastermind of an armed robbery against his wife in an attempt to make a false insurance claim in Taman Hijau near Karak.

Bentong District Police Chief Superintendent Zaiham Mohd Kahar said the police received a report from the man's wife at 3.20pm.

He said the 42-year-old victim was approached by three men wearing masks, armed with machetes, who then ransacked her house.

"The suspects then fled in a white Perodua Alza parked in front of the house. They made away with jewellery. The losses were estimated to be worth about RM16,000," he said in a statement today.

Zaiham said the housewife was home alone while her mother, son and husband went to a relative's house at the time of the incident.

"Acting on information, the police arrested three men - two locals and one foreign - aged 33 and 24, in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, at about 9.30pm.

"The police also seized the vehicle used in the incident, and checks found that two suspects have past records involving robbery," he said.

Zaiham said it was later learnt after an interrogation that the victim's spouse, a 47-year-old local man, was suspected to be an accomplice in the robbery.

"The victim's husband was also arrested, and all of them are remanded for seven days to assist in the investigation under Section 395/397 of the Penal Code for armed robbery," he said.