2 foreigners nabbed, 6 ‘collectors’ rescued in Johor charity donation scam

JOHOR BAHRU: Police arrested two foreign brothers on suspicion of being the masterminds behind a charity donation scam and rescued six victims when they raided a house at Taman Tiram Baru in Ulu Tiram here on Tuesday.

Johor police chief M Kumar said the two suspects, aged 47 and 54, acted as the driver and planner of the operation, and were detained by a team from the Seri Alam police headquarters’ criminal investigation department.

He said the six victims – a Malaysian man and five foreign men aged between 21 and 70 – had been used by the syndicate to collect donations.

Kumar said the syndicate had claimed that the donations were intended to fund a tahfiz school for orphans in Songkhla, Thailand.

“The residence is believed to have been used to house the donation collectors,” he said in a statement today.

“A preliminary investigation found that the syndicate has been active since mid-2019. It targeted areas around Johor Bahru, Seri Alam, Kulai, Ayer Hitam and Simpang Renggam.”

He said police seized two cars, six donation boxes marked “Donations for the construction of tahfiz school for orphans”, nine mobile phones, and a stamp bearing the name of a madrasah.

“Police also seized a file containing copies of an appointment letter authorising the solicitation of donations using the letterhead of the Islamic development department and the Johor Islamic religious department, four photographs of a madrasah under construction, 10 cash transfer receipts and RM9,158 in cash,” he said.

Kumar said the two brothers, who tested positive for ketamine, have been remanded for a week starting yesterday.

The six victims have been placed in a temporary shelter for 21 days under Section 44(2) of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2017.