IPOH: A convenience store employee's claims of being robbed while on the way to the bank to deposit the store's takings had appeared too good to be true.
In the end, the police's suspicions were proven right when the 23-year-old man confessed that the 'robbery' was a ruse, and that the robbers themselves were his friends.
The man, who works for a 24-hour convenience store, said he fell prey to two snatch thieves while he was on his way to the bank in town at 9.30pm.
He claimed that two men on a motorcycle had snatched his bag, which contained RM30,000 cash.
The man claimed that he tried to put up a fight, but failed, and the robbers fled with his bag containing the money, as well as his identity card, driving licence, his own cash worth RM200 and a mobile phone.
District police chief Assistant Commisioner Mohd Ali Tamby said, after questioning, the man broke down and confessed that the robbery was fake.
"He had planned the robbery by asking his two friends to snatch his sling bag," he said.
The man was detained in front of Greentown Business Centre at 3pm, while his two friends aged 22 and 24 were picked up at separate locations here at about 9.30pm.
The case is being investigated under Section 395 of the Penal Code for gang robbery, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years’ jail, or a whipping, or both, upon conviction.