RANAU, Aug 17 — Two men were each fined RM3,500 by the Ranau Magistrate’s Court for being members of a Philippine organisation deemed illegal under the Societies Act 1966 – the latest in such cases in the district.

Roy Martin, 35, a farmer, and Mohd Sharin Ibrahim, 40, a tyre mechanic, were charged under Section 43 of the Societies Act 1966 for being members of Kappa Rho Kappa (KRK), also referred to in the investigation as the Knights of the Right Keppers, a Philippines-based militant organisation.

The court imposed a fine of RM3,500 on each accused, with six months’ imprisonment in default of payment.

The cases stemmed from a police operation conducted on June 5, 2026, at about 10.50am at HH Rich, Kg Kinasaraban, Ranau, under Op Tik Tok (Gangsterism). 

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According to the case documents, a team from the D7 Criminal Investigation Department (JSJ) of the Sabah Police Contingent Headquarters, led by Insp Jesmera bin Bandong, conducted checks on the two men at the premises.

During the inspection, police reportedly discovered three cigarette-burn marks on the upper part of the men’s right wrists, which investigators suspected to be associated with KRK membership.

Police also seized two mobile phones – a blue Redmi belonging to one of the men and an orange Realme phone belonging to the other – which were found to contain videos allegedly displaying content associated with the group.

The investigation subsequently sought verification from a gang-related crime expert, who confirmed that one of the accused was believed to be a member of the group based on the identifying marks found on his wrist.

Further checks with the Registrar of Societies Malaysia (ROS) Sabah also established that Kappa Rho Kappa (KRK) was not legally registered with the department. — Daily Express