Flight MH370: £20k stolen from passenger accounts four months after disappearance
More than £20,000 has been illegally withdrawn from the bank accounts of four passengers who were travelling on the missing Flight MH370.
A bank in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, reported that 111,000 RM (£20,916) was moved from the passengers' accounts in to a fifth person's account in mysterious transactions in July.
The owner of the fifth account is currently unknown.
According to the Metro, the money was withdrawn from the fifth account using several different cash points in the Klang Valley.
Assistant Commissioner to the crime investigation department Izany Abdul Ghany told the Mirror: "We are investigating the case as unauthorised access with intent to commit an offence."
ACP Izany had not ruled out the possibility of an inside job at the bank, and said that all angles were being investigated.
In Malaysian law, the offence comes under Computer Crimes Act 1997, which sees a fine of up to £30,000 or a prison sentence up to 10 years.
Police chief Datuk Tajuddin Md Isa revealed that authorities have identified possible suspects in the case and that they are "gathering more evidence" before taking further action.
According to the Independent, Mr Abdul also explained how the money was accessed, revealing that funds from the bank accounts of three passengers had been transferred into a fourth.
An internet transfer of £6,640 was then made in the beginning of July into a separate account "believed to be that of one of the suspects".
ATM withdrawals were then made daily.
Flight MH370 was carrying 239 passengers and crew when it disappeared on 8 March shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing.
Investigators believe that the little evidence they have suggests the plane was deliberately diverted thousands of kilometres from its scheduled route before plunging into the Indian Ocean.
The search for the plane has become the most expensive of its kind in the history of aviation.
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