KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 — A man is posing as a "business manager” to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng to defraud the public, the ministry warned the public today.

Lim’s press secretary, Lutfi Hakim, said the person named "Balu Kelvin” was using the contactkelvin009@gmail.com address to contact people with offers to arrange meetings with the minister.

"The offer is a scam by ‘Balu Kelvin’ who claims to be an officer to the finance minister.

"The fraud and impersonation attempt is an offence under the Penal Code, including Section 417 and 419,” said Lutfi in a statement today.

Section 417 provides for a maximum of five years’ jail, a fine or with both for cheating, while impersonation under Section 419 is punishable by up to seven years’ imprisonment.

Lutfi said a police report was lodged yesterday at the Jalan Tun Razak police station against the man.

On March 10, the Finance Ministry (MoF) had warned of possible fraud involving the use of its letterhead and Lim’s name.

The ministry said there could be scammers using Lim and MoF’s email addresses, and urged the public to check with the ministry before acting on such correspondence.