KUCHING, April 26 ― A 20-year-old man was arrested by police Monday after he was found to have filed a false report claiming he had been robbed.

Padawan police chief Supt Abang Zainal Abidin Abang Ahmad said the suspect from Batu Kawa had claimed he was riding his motorcycle near Taman Sri Moyan when two strangers armed with a machete forced him to stop and robbed him of RM3,200, a mobile phone and personal documents.

"After our investigation concluded the police report filed by the suspect was false, he admitted to making up the story.

"He confessed that he had actually spent the money given to him by his mother to settle his debts with moneylenders, as well as to fund his gambling habit,” he said in a statement yesterday.

According to Abang Zainal Abidin, the suspect’s mother had tasked him with delivering the money to his grandmother in their village for the construction of a house.

He also said the suspect, in his attempt to make his story more believable, had dumped his personal documents into the Sarawak River.

The case is being investigated under Section 182 of the Penal Code, which provides for up to six months’ jail or a fine of up to RM2,000 or both, upon conviction. ― Borneo Post