Politician’s son denies cheating senior cop

KOTA KINABALU: A politician’s son pleaded not guilty at the Special Corruption Court to two charges of deceiving a senior police officer by posing as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner and deputy chief commissioner (operations).

Aries Ryan Phillip Among, 30, claimed trial after the charges were read out before Judge Jason Juga. He is accused of deceiving the cop by masquerading as the MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations), leading to the victim depositing RM8,000 into an account supposedly for a sacrificial cow contribution at 11.46am on June 24 last year.

He is also charged with deceiving the cop by impersonating MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki.

Aries, a businessman who is the son of former Sabah STAR leader Philip Among, was accused of committing both offences through WhatsApp at No 3, Perumahan Desa Aman in Jalan Kepayan, here.

The charge was framed under Section 419 of the Penal Code, which provides a jail term of up to seven years or fine or both, upon conviction.

Aries also faces two alternative charges related to deceiving the cop.

In the first alternative charge, he deceived the police officer into depositing RM8,000 into an account supposedly for a sacrificial cow.

For the second alternative charge, Aries is accused of deceiving the same individual by impersonating Azam, leading the victim to deposit RM27,000 into an account supposedly for his child’s convocation in Sydney, Australia, and RM14,300 into another account as a loan at 11.22am on June 30 last year.

He is alleged to have committed both offences through the WhatsApp application at the same location and faces charges under Section 417 of the Penal Code, which provides imprisonment for up to five years, or a fine or both, if found guilty.

The judge allowed bail of RM40,000 and ordered his passport to be surrendered to the court. Aries paid a bail deposit of RM5,000 and was ordered to report to the MACC Kota Kinabalu office every two months.

Mention has been fixed for Feb 14.