Police Receive Two Reports Of Religious School Building Fraud Involving Independent Preacher

SHAH ALAM, July 6 (Bernama) -- Selangor police have confirmed receiving two reports against an independent preacher. about a fraud case involving the development of a religious school, incurring losses amounting to RM140,000.

In a statement today, state police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the reports were lodged in Gombak and Shah Alam involving two victims, namely local women in their 40s.

“The first victim is the owner of a company who knew the suspect, a local man in his 30s known as an independent preacher in 2020.

"The suspect deceived the victim, regarding the building of a religious school believed to be located in Selangor, to make three money deposit transactions totalling RM60,000 from August to September 2020," he said.

As for the second victim, Hussein said the woman had made a payment of RM80,000 sometime around 2019.

Hussein said the suspect used the name of a religious institution to gain trust until the victims handed over the money to the suspect to build the religious school.

He reminded the public to always be vigilant against any requests for donations or investments that cannot be verified, especially those involving religious and educational institutions.

"Avoid making financial transactions through personal accounts or companies that are not legally registered," he said.

Yesterday, Shah Alam district police chief ACP Mohd Iqbal Ibrahim was reported to have said that his team is investigating a case involving the dissemination of pornographic videos by an independent preacher.

Mohd Iqbal said the investigation was carried out following a police report received from a woman, the second wife of the man in question, on June 16, alleging that the preacher had spread a video of his intimate relationship with his wives and several other women.

Meanwhile, the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) has revoked the religious teaching credentials of an ustaz who was recently arrested by the police on suspicion of being involved in a criminal case since 2022.

MAIS chairman Datuk Salehuddin Saidin said the individual had also been detained by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) in September 2024 for teaching Islam without authorisation.

-- BERNAMA