‘DATUK’ NABBED FOR ALLEGED SALE OF PERAK ROYAL MEDALS
He held ‘investiture’ for 95 people
KEDAH police arrested a man, who claimed to be a “Datuk”, for allegedly selling fake Perak royal medals at a hotel here yesterday. The man, in his 50s, was detained for organising an “investiture” to confer “Pingat Setia Raja dan Negara” (PSRN) medals on 95 people.
It was learnt that the man sold the awards for RM5,000 each, and was behind an “investiture” in Perak last year.
Several very important persons (VIPs), including a man said to be a royal, had attended the event, held from 8am to noon.
Kedah police chief Datuk Asri Yusoff said the ceremony was officiated by a VIP who was told to award the medals on behalf of his elder brother. However, Asri said the VIP claimed he did not know anything about the alleged scam by the “Datuk”.
Asri said, acting on a tip-off, a police team went to the hotel at 1.30pm and arrested the “Datuk”.
He said police seized 65 pieces of sashes, 66 medals and souvenir trophies from the organiser, but declined to divulge more details.
On the origin of the purported royal member, he said the man was from “one of the states in the north”.
Asri said 200 people attended the investiture, including the 95 recipients, mostly businessmen and pensioners, aged between 30 and 60.
“An investigation showed that for every medal, the recipient was asked to deposit RM5,000 into a bank account belonging to a Perak-based volunteer association, as a membership fee,” he said yesterday.
Asri said no association was entitled to award any medal resembling those issued by the palace.
“The medal does not carry any title but the recipients were promised special privileges when they applied for projects from a certain state government.”
Asri said the “Datuk” had organised similar ceremonies to confer awards in the state concerned last year, but it was foiled by the police.
“This time, they tried their luck in Kedah, but we busted them.”
He said police had classified the case under Section 419 of the Penal Code for cheating by impersonation, which carries a seven-year imprisonment or fine, or both, if convicted.
Last year, a businessman in Johor had reportedly lodged a report after he and other businessmen were cheated of RM1.5 million to buy fake “Datuk” and “Datuk Seri” titles from Perak.