KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 — A man suffered an estimated loss of RM294,850 in a scam for a ‘Datuk Seri’ title on Tuesday.
Kuala Lumpur Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief ACP Mohd Mahidisham Ishak said the 33-year-old victim, a distributor of medical kits for a pharmacy, was offered the title on Dec 1, last year, by a local man.
He said, however, the suspect had asked the victim to make a RM300,000 donation to the palace authorities in order to be ‘awarded’ the title.
“From Jan 14 to 31 (this year), the victim made a cash payment of RM200,000 as well as transferred RM94,850 to the suspect’s bank account.
“After payment was made, the victim received several documents (purportedly) related to the ‘Datuk Seri’ title together with two units of car logos/emblems belonging to a state,” he said in a statement today.
Mohd Mahidisham said the victim’s friend, a Datuk Seri, cautioned him as the matter sounded dubious.
Following this, he said police detained two women and a local man, aged 29 to 39, in raids between March 10 and 14.
“All suspects were detained and the ‘title’ documents were confiscated. One of the suspects even said he was a ‘Datuk Seri’ but upon police verification with Bahagian Istiadat dan Pengurusan Majlis Rasmi, the suspect was not on the list,” he also said.
He reminded the public to not fall victim to fraudulent offers of royal titles and to check with istiadat.gov.my.
Mohd Mahidisham said the public can contact the Kuala Lumpur Police hotline at 03-21460584/0585 or any nearby police station to report any crime or suspicious activity.
