CLAIMING to be sanctioned by the Prime Minister’s Department and given powers to fix weaknesses in the government, a 35-year-old formed a vigilante group in 2002.
Nor Azami Ahmad Ghazali, who assumed the post of a “four-star general”, named the so-called watchdog outfit the Federal Special Forces of Malaysia (FSFM).
With ambitions of becoming prime minister someday, the former car wash centre operator, who identified himself as a “Datuk” and held a doctorate, went on a recruitment drive nationwide with several others.
The group issued uniforms similar to that of the police and sold ranks similar to those issued in the military.
It cost a member RM16,000 to be an FSFM lieutenant while those aspiring to be a captain could expect to pay RM25,000, and thrice or more for higher ranks.
Within months, Nor Azami claimed he had recruited over 8,000 members across the country.
Among them were teachers, lecturers, medical personnel, high-ranking civil servants, and ex-armed forces and police personnel.
Many of them held double academic degrees and doctorates.
There were also several members with genuine Datuk titles.
A few of the armed forces officers who signed up for membership were also offered higher ranks in FSFM compared to what they had held in the military.
The members were also led to believe they would be given powers to arrest politicians, including ministers and staff of enforcement agencies.
The FSFM “generals” told its members that the group was tasked to revamp the police force, armed forces and the then
Anti-Corruption Agency.
The group was said to have held weekly meetings that were attended by VIPs, who came in luxury cars.
Just months into its plan, the thousands of members who had signed up with the illegal group learnt that they had been duped by false promises and claims when police got wind of their activities and swung into action.
Suspected to be a threat to national security, federal and Kuala Lumpur police launched a large-scale operation before raiding the FSFM “headquarters” near a hotel on July 24, 2003 .
The raiding party arrested 23 people in their 20s to 40s, including Nor Azami and six women, at a wooden single-storey house that was converted into an office in Taman Bukit Angkasa, Pantai Dalam in Kuala Lumpur.
The group’s uniforms, authority cards, membership forms, letters of oath, two unloaded pistols, handcuffs, cash and several boxes of pirated and pornographic VCDs were seized.
As investigations commenced, rumours were spread alleging the involvement of Cabinet ministers in the group, but such claims were later quashed by police.
More than 2,600 members, including over 80 “high-ranking officers” of FSFM, surrendered to police.
The government warned that stern legal action would follow on civil servants who were part of the group and armed forces personnel would face the sack.
Investigations showed that the group’s motive was cheating and most of its founders were expelled members of a legitimate voluntary group that had provided social and emergency services, called the Malaysian Emergency Action Squad.
About two weeks after the group was busted, Nor Azami and two other men were charged with cheating.
They claimed trial and faced hundreds of charges over the next two years for offences related to the Companies Act.
In 2009, Nor Azami ran foul of the law again when he attempted to revive the group.
He was arrested, together with 42 others, and was again charged in court and fined heavily for the offences.
