Four passengers who vanished onboard MH370 have £20,000 withdrawn from their banks
FRAUDSTERS have stolen £20,000 from the bank accounts of four passengers who went missing onboard doomed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, it has been claimed.
The cash was mysteriously withdrawn in July - four months after the Boeing 777 vanished without a trace with 239 people onboard.
Police have identified possible suspects after the large sum of money was allegedly taken from an branch of high street bank HSBC in Kuala Lumpur.
Izany Abdul Ghany, from the Malaysian force, said officers have not ruled out an inside job and are investigating "all the angles".
Speaking to Asian newspaper The Star, he said: "We are investigating the case as unauthorised access with intent to commit an offence."
We are getting CCTV footage from the bank to identify the suspects involved
The Assistant Commissioner to the crime investigation department said money was first accessed from the bank of accounts of three passengers.
The funds were then transferred to one held by a fourth MH370 passenger before it was withdrawn.
Mr Abdul said as much as £20,059 (111,000 Malaysian Ringgit) were siphoned from accounts of people onboard the missing flight.
He added: "ATM withdrawals of RM5,000 (£948) [were then taken out] daily until the account was empty.
"We are now trying to trace the identity of the suspect who opened that account.
"We are getting CCTV footage from the bank to identify the suspects involved."
Under the Computer Crimes Act 1997 in Malaysian law the offence carries a fine of up to £30,000 and a up to 10 years in jail.
HSBC told The Star that the matter has been referred to the police and is the focus now of a police investigation.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 during a planned flight between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.
Despite the most expensive search operation in history not a single trace of the plane carrying 227 passenger and 12 crew members has been found.
It was originally believed MH370 crashed into the Indian Ocean and the search efforts have focused in that vast area.
More than a fortnight after the plane went missing Malaysia prime minister Najib Razak said it was assumed "beyond reasonable doubt" there were no survivors.
Last week Malaysian Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said ships were on there way to the southern Indian Ocean to continue the MH370 search.
He said the vessels were equipped with vehicles specifically designed for deep sea searches and they would scan the ocean floor using sonar.