The suspected murderers of well-known entrepreneur and millionaire Susilawati and 3 others, are also suspected of committing similar crimes in the past. This incidence happened in Then’s hometown, so I’m a bit curious as well.

Picture from the Star

Two more picture are available from Low Yat forum (here).

Its seems the brothers also have Facebook profiles (refer here and here).

Some articles from newspapers highlight the possible extensiveness of the criminal activities of this group:

Two lawyer brothers are the prime suspects in the murder of cosmetics millionaire Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya and three others whose bodies were burnt and their ashes strewn in a river near Ladang Gadong, in Tanjong Sepat, here.

Cops are probing if the brothers are also responsible for four more people reported missing.

Bukit Aman CID director Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin said police were awaiting forensic confirmation on the remains, believed to be that of Sosilawati, the client of the main suspect – a Datuk – said to have been handling a land deal in Penang for the entrepreneur. He owned the farm where the bodies were allegedly burnt after they had been assaulted and stabbed to death.

From initial investigations, police found that the ashes were disposed of at the mouth of a river about 4.2km from the farm. Comm Bakri said the motive of the murder could be business rivalry, debt and a land business deal gone sour. It is learnt that the land in Penang was bought for RM25mil and was to have been re-sold for RM200mil.

… “Police believe the 41-year-old lawyer was the mastermind behind the disappearances and could have been involved in four other missing persons cases,” Comm Bakri told reporters at the Banting police headquarters yesterday.

The brothers were among eight people arrested in connection with the case. The other six, including two women, aged between 19 and 45, were farmhands.

… “We will investigate the brothers in relation to their accumulation of properties, high-end cars and their business dealings that involve millions of ringgit,” he added.

Police are also investigating the whereabouts of the RM4mil which Sosilawati was said to have been carrying.

Comm Bakri said one of the four previous missing persons cases involved an Indian national who had opened a restaurant with the brothers as partners.

He said police would investigate these other cases as well.

… Comm Bakri said the police were investigating the farm land which the lawyer bought about 30 months ago to ascertain if the deal was made “properly”.

He added that the police also wanted to know where the former owner was. The previous owner is said to be missing.

– excerpts from The Star

… The lawyers, one of whom is a 41-year-old Datuk, are said to have masterminded the murders, while the six others are employees at the farm.

Federal Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin said at least four of the suspects confessed to the murders.

Those detained, including two women, are between the ages of 19 and 54.

Although Bakri declined to elaborate on the motive for the murders, it was learnt from a reliable source that it stemmed from a business deal that had turned sour.

The lawyer was believed to have persuaded Sosilawati, who was the founder of the Nouvelles Visages beauty line, to purchase a plot of land and had asked her to bring along a substantial amount of cash on Aug 30.

However, when Sosilawati and her entourage met the lawyer, he got angry when she did not bring along the amount which was agreed upon earlier.

The four victims were then forcibly detained by the lawyer’s workers who later killed them.

Police also revealed that the lawyer brothers have been involved in similar cases where their clients had gone missing.

Bakri said police were investigating four similar disappearances linked to the brothers in the past one year.

One of the four earlier victims was an Indian national reported missing several months ago.

“The suspects have indicated that the same modus operandi had been used in the other cases over the last one year,” he said at a press conference at the police station here, adding that there could be more arrests.

The Datuk had previously highlighted in the media several cases of exploitation of foreign workers in the country.

Bakri said it was almost certain that the four were held captive at the farm before being beaten up and murdered.

The farm is owned by the Datuk lawyer and is situated about 500m from the main road in an oil palm plantation. It is surrounded by a brick wall and livestock is also raised there.

The bodies are believed to have been burnt beside a pond near the cowshed towards the end of the far m.

Bakri said police had also brought in the anti-money laundering unit and assets belonging to the suspects might be frozen as information had been received that some of the properties were gained through dubious means.

– excerpts from NST.

Reading the article below makes it worse. Wonder why the previous cases were not able to be solved. Could have saved the lives of the four people who died recently (Susilawati and 3 others).

The mastermind said to be behind the murder of cosmetics millionaire Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya and three others is an infamous figure being investigated by police for land fraud and cheating.

Both the man and his brother are from humble beginnings. After graduating with law degrees, they opened a practice, where one of the brothers soon became an active member of the community.

They are known for their show of philanthropy with frequent donations of food and clothing to the poor.

Crime scene: The farm where the murders might have been committed.

The brothers, who specialise in land deals, had also developed a reputation for “unsavoury tactics” during their negotiations.

“Their methods were frowned upon and most lawyers kept their distance from them,” said a source.

The two, who were suspended from practising law for a year for alleged involvement in land scams, are known to have expensive tastes, being seen driving luxury cars.

It is understood that the elder brother, who received a Datukship a year ago, is being investigated by the Commercial Crimes Investigations Department (CCID) in Penang and Bukit Aman for land fraud and cheating cases involving millions of ringgit.

A forensics police officer collecting bone fragments near Banting Sunday.

Sources familiar with the case said he had attempted to cheat a businessman of more than a million ringgit over three parcels of land.

“The businessman was shown a power of attorney letter by the lawyer, who collected a RM1mil deposit pending transfer of the land title.

“When the businessman later did a search, he was shocked to find that the land had already been sold,” they said.

The sources said police were checking if Sosilawati had engaged one of the brothers in a land deal and if she could have wanted her money back after learning about the alleged fraud because there was talk that she had gone to see him in Banting on the same matter.

Federal CCID deputy director Deputy Comm Datuk Noryah Md Anvar confirmed that the brothers were under investigation.

An estate worker said he had sometimes seen luxury cars entering and leaving the farm near where the ashes of the victims were supposedly found.

“However, no one really knows what goes on there as the gates are always closed,” he said.

Another resident, who only wanted to be known as Rajes, 30, said one the brothers was the man “you go to see if you need help with something outside the boundaries of the law.”

“Everyone knows that he is connected with certain types of people,” he said, adding that it was rumoured among locals that people who crossed the brothers would mysteriously disappear.

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