KUANTAN: A person claiming to know someone in the Customs Department destroyed the hope of a father to get his son freed from detention, simultaneously scamming him of RM8,000 as payment for his release.
“The 49-year-old victim alleged his son was detained by the Customs Department on Monday to help in a cigarette smuggling probe and subsequently a person named Faris was introduced to him by a friend, claiming he could help get his son released,” said Pahang Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief, Supt Mohd Wazir Mohd Yusuf, to reporters today.
“The victim said he paid RM4,000 to the suspect (Faris) on Tuesday at a restaurant, with the balance given the next day in front of the Customs Department in Kuantan,” he said.
The victim was told to wait for half-an-hour for his son to be released, but after waiting outside the building for more than that period, he son didn’t emerge.
When this happened, the victim and his friend who waited with him, went inside the building to check the guest register to discover the suspect’s name wasn’t in there.
The victim made a police report yesterday at the Kuantan district police headquarters (IPD) and the case will be investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum jail term of 10 years, whipping and the likelihood of a fine if convicted. — Bernama
