Mohd Sakri shows the car sticker and royalty logo seized from the syndicate. — Bernama photo
SHAH ALAM: Police have crippled a syndicate selling membership into the Selangor royal household with the arrest of two men early this month.
Selangor Commercial Criminal Investigation Department head ACP Mohd Sakri Arifin said the suspects, both locals, were arrested following a report on a vehicle having a similar registration number with one of the Selangor palace vehicles.
The first suspect, aged 27, was detained at a car park of a hotel in Seri Kembangan at 9.30pm on Feb 5 and following his arrest, police were able to nab the second suspect, aged 53 and believed to be the master-mind of the syndicate, in Pandan Indah, Ampang, the following day (Feb 6), he told reporters here yesterday.
He said the syndicate, believed to be active since 2013, charged between RM10,000 and RM20,000 to unsuspecting buyers for the purpose, and the buyers would receive Selangor royalty paraphernalia for them to use to show that they were members of the royal household.
“The modus operandi of this syndicate is to give membership card with words ‘Ahli Istana Diraja Selangor’ (member of the Selangor Palace), a yellow piece of paper, a car sticker and a set of the Selangor royalty logo,” he added.
He said the yellow paper purportedly served as a ‘ticket’ which the recipients could use to obtain special treatment at government departments, especially to obtain permit or contract. He urged those who had been duped by the syndicate to come forward to facilitate investigation. — Bernama