Bogus graft busters held
GEORGETOWN: Two men who posed as officers of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Penang Islamic Religious Affairs Department (Pirad) who claimed they could assist a woman in making a khalwat (close proximity) case she was involved in "disappear" were detained by the MACC in separate raids.
The men had fleeced the woman of about RM10,000 which they collected from her on two occasions.
The Pirad imposter had apparently approached a woman and duped her into believing he could close a khalwat case she was involved in for RM4,000.
After the woman paid up the sum, the 39-year-old suspect headed to a gambling den in Bukit Jambul where he lost all the money.
Sources said broke and frustrated, the man then hatched a plan with a 44-year-old accomplice who posed as a MACC officer before contacting the victim again.
The Pirad imposter told the woman that he was detained by the MACC for taking bribes from her and needed another RM4,000 to "pay off" the MACC.
The woman paid the amount to the suspect's accomplice and subsequently an additional RM2,000 to two other men who also posed as MACC officers.
When the Penang MACC got wind of the case, it launched an operation and nabbed both suspects in Butterworth and Bayan Lepas in separate raids at 10.30pm on Tuesday and 3.30am today.
Both suspects were remanded for seven days today for further investigations.
Penang MACC director Datuk Abdul Aziz Aban said today two other accomplices of the suspects who are still at large are being sought.
He urged the public to be cautious when approached by such imposters and verify their identities of those making such claims with the nearest MACC office.
Last week, two men and a woman were also held for posing as MACC officers in Sepang and Alor Gajah in two separate cases.
The men, aged 49 and 61 had fleeced a male victim of RM20,000 after convincing him he was being probed by the MACC and that they could "silence" the case.
The woman, a 36-year-old mother of five who had past criminal records for cheating had posed as a Putrajaya MACC officer and preyed on high-ranking government officials.
She had told her victims that the MACC had initiated a probe on them and demanded between RM5,000 and RM20,000 to "bury" the so-called investigations.