Held – two who sold titles for a fee
Police detain suspects who ran fake elite club for affluent businessmen
JOHOR BARU: Two men – brazenly claiming to be “Datuks” – are behind an unregistered VIP group that lures businessmen into paying hundreds of thousands of ringgit to “buy” fake Datuk titles from it.
The suspects, aged 57 and 40, from Batu Pahat claimed they were able to get titles from several states.
Police arrested the two suspects here on Oct 30 after receiving 13 reports against them. In all, they raked in RM1.34mil, said state police chief Comm Datuk Mohd Khalil Kader Mohd.
“The suspects were very slick in their operations. They duped their victims by showing them the medals and appointment letters that looked genuine,” he said.
The suspects, who had been active since early this year, would be attired in formal wear and take their victims to a certain state where the royal family there would be holding ceremonies and meeting with the public.
The suspects would then arrange for their victims to take pictures with members of the royalty, Comm Mohd Khalil told reporters at the state police headquarters here yesterday.
After taking the pictures, the suspects would charge their victims RM5,000 if the latter wanted their pictures to be printed and framed, he added.
“We conducted checks with the palace of this state. The palace confirmed that it had no ties with the suspects and stressed that the medals and appointment letters were fake,” said Comm Mohd Khalil.
Victims will have to pay at least RM20,000 each to become an exclusive member of the “prestigious” club. To obtain a Datuk or a Datuk Seri title, each member needed to fork out between RM180,000 and RM280,000.
Comm Mohd Khalil said police had identified 40 individuals, believed to be involved in the group, and wanted them to come forward or face action.
Police also did not rule out the possibility that there were also victims from other states.
“I would like to remind the public that it is not easy to be bestowed with a Datukship as it is not something that money can buy,” he said, warning the public not to be involved with any individuals offering these titles.
The two suspects are being remanded to assist with the investigations. Police are also looking for a 33-year-old suspect from Kuala Lumpur to help with the investigations.