PETALING JAYA: When news broke about an investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Com-mission (MACC), a family member of a top politician was worried that he might be included in the dragnet and was wondering what he could do about it.
Enter a man who calls himself by the moniker ‘Datuk Roy’.
He convinced the politician’s relative that he could get his name erased from the investigations into the Jana Wibawa programme – for a tidy sum of RM400,000.
Jana Wibawa was a programme launched in 2019 to assist bumiputra contractors during the Covid-19 pandemic downturn, with the programme currently subject to MACC investigations for alleged misappropriations.
An MACC source said it was believed the politician’s relative is not the first victim of the 54-year-old ‘Datuk Roy’ – real name Mohd Hussein Mohd Nasir – who was remanded yesterday.
A check showed that back in 2020, a ‘Datuk Roy’ had also impersonated an MACC officer in Putrajaya to scam RM60,000 off a man who was being investigated.
Although reports showed that he was arrested and remanded by MACC then, there was no further report about him.
It is not known if the man in the previous case was the same person, but he is known to have scammed many others using the same modus operandi – which is to convince victims that he had insider information about cases being investigated by MACC.
Busted: MACC officers ushering Mohd Hussein at the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate’s Court. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star
“He lives in Pahang and has friends in MACC, who pass insider information to him about people being investigated,” the source said.
In the latest case, ‘Datuk Roy’ had used that information to approach his victim and offered to “settle” the matter if he was paid RM400,000.
Shaken, the victim asked another relative for advice.
That person then vouched for his credibility.
“The relative then paid RM400,000 believing the case would be closed,” said the source.
The victim passed the money to another man, who purportedly brought it to ‘Datuk Roy’ who then shared it out with the gang.
On March 9, the MACC arrested four people, including an MACC officer and a woman, aged between 40 and 50, for allegedly soliciting and accepting bribes worth RM400,000 to halt an investigation into a Jana Wibawa-related case.
The woman was released on MACC bail, while the other three remained in custody until March 13.
Yesterday, Mohd Hussein was remanded for three days to assist in the investigations.
The remand order was issued by Magistrate Noorelynna Hanim Abd Halim to facilitate investigations under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009.
