JOHOR BARU, April 22 — A 51-year-old man who claimed he was a legal representative of the Johor Royal Palace was arrested by the police today after he grifted more than RM185,000 from an advertising company in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
The suspect, a lawyer by profession, was arrested in Kampung Dato’ Onn here by the Johor Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) at 9.40am today.
Johor police chief Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the arrest followed a police report lodged on March 31, 2011 related to a case of fraud where an individual was said to have claimed that he was a “Johor Royal Palace lawyer”.
“Through the impersonation, more than RM185,000 was paid to the suspect for the payment of non-existent billboard installation charges at the North-South Expressway (PLUS) concession area and the Linkedua (Second Link) Malaysia-Singapore route,” he said at the Johor police contingent headquarters today.
Ayob Khan said the case was reopened after new facts and evidence were obtained.
He said the suspect will be charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code with cheating at the Shah Alam Sessions Court in Selangor tomorrow.
“Further checks revealed that the suspect had 17 previous cases related to criminal breach of trust, money laundering and offences related to company Acts,” said Ayob Khan.
Previously, the state’s top cop said that the police had arrested two businessmen posing as members of the Johor Royal family for committing fraud and offering a non-existent piece of land worth RM2.45 million in Mukim Sekakap, Mersing.
“Both were charged in court on January 9 under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
“Recently, there have been many cases of certain parties attempting to take advantage of people by claiming they have close ties with the Johor Palace or the Royal Family of Johor to dupe unsuspecting victims.
“People are advised not to be easily deceived by any individual and to verify their background to avoid becoming a victim of such scams,” said Ayob Khan.
