Con man still under probe

Cops investigate Filipino under immigration laws

KOTA KINABALU: Malaysian police are still holding one of the Philippines’ most wanted man, who allegedly conned Filipinos of over RM900mil, for investigation under immigration laws.

Amid growing pressure from Manila for him to be deported to face charges of cheating people through his investment scam, Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said investigations were being carried out under the Immigration Act.

“We are trying to establish certain issues about his citizenship,” he said.

He said the probe was focused on his possession of a Philippines passport and also issues about his Malaysian origins in Sabah.

The man was arrested in Sabah on Thursday for having suspected fake Malaysian identity documents.

Following the arrest, it is believed that the Philippines sent a team to Kota Kinabalu to take him back on Friday after family members lodged a police report and hired a lawyer.

The failed deportation sparked an outcry in the Philippines, where victims had sold or mortgaged their homes or put their savings into the alleged investment scam that promised up to 67% returns.

Philippines Interior Secretary Manuel Mar Roxas said the man was a Filipino citizen with a Philippine passport and birth certificate.

Roxas said that without an extradition treaty with Malaysia, his deportation to the Philippines was based on his government’s mutual legal assistance (MLA) agreements with Malaysia.

“Under the MLA, we are asking that he be deported to the Philippines so that he can be made accountable for the crimes he committed,” he told reporters in Manila.

Roxas had claimed that Philippines police and National Bureau of Investigations officers were about to take custody of the suspect from Malaysian police while on board a flight bound for Manila in Kota Kinabalu when senior Malaysian police officials aborted it due to documentation issues.