Kelantan royalty pleads not guilty to falsifying documents on datukship awards

KOTA BARU: A member of the Kelantan royal family pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here today to committing eight counts of falsifying documents for the awarding of state peerage titles to 11 businessman.
Tengku Mohd Ariffin Tengku Ibrahim, 62, was charged with committing the offences with the intention of using the false documents for the purpose of fraud.
He was charged with committing all the offences outside the Wan Jati Furniture Shop, Jalan Raja Perempuan Zainab II, Padang Demit, Kubang Kerian here between April 1 2014 and February 18, 2015.
He is accused of committing the offences under Section 468 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of up to seven years and fine, if found guilty.
The charges were read out to him before Judge Mohd Yusoff Yunus.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nor Dalina Ali applied to the court for the case to be transferred to the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court for the accused to be tried together with two other individuals who are facing eight counts of cheating to obtain the peerage title of Dato Kerabat Diraja Kelantan.
Nor Dalina told the court that the case had been fixed for trial from October 26 to 29 at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court.
She asked for bail to be set at RM100,000 with one surety.
Mohd Yusoff allowed the case to be transferred to the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court and set bail of RM80,000 with one surety.
Last Tuesday, a man with the title of "Datuk Seri" and a single mother were charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on eight counts of cheating by claiming that they could obtain the title of Dato Kerabat Diraja Kelantan for those interested at a cost of more than RM700,000.
Saharuddin Awang Yahya, 60, and Norzihan Zainal Abidin, 53, pleaded not guilty to all the charges before Judge Mat Ghani Abdullah. – Bernama