KUALA LUMPUR: A man who sold explicit videos of himself engaging in sexual activities with more than 20 women of various ethnicities through social media was arrested in Janda Baik, Pahang recently.
The 31-year-old suspect was apprehended by the vice, gambling, and secret societies division (D7) of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Bukit Aman at a house in Kampung Janda Baik, Bentong, Pahang, at 2.30 pm.
In the same operation, the police also arrested two female companions, aged 23 and 27, at the house where the suspect's father also resides.
Bukit Aman CID director, Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain, stated that the male suspect was identified through information and investigations by the CID in Bukit Aman regarding his self-promotion of recorded sexual activities for viewing on the Telegram platform.
He mentioned that the initial investigation revealed that the main suspect, who had been married and divorced twice, started selling and promoting sexual enhancement drugs from China through social media platforms since early last year.
"To maximise profits, the suspect then learned new ways to record explicit videos of himself engaging in rough sexual acts with his female companions before selling the scenes on three channels on the Telegram app since July last year.
"Besides his female companions, the suspect, who is suspected to have a background as a gigolo or a hired male companion, also engaged in sexual activities with some female customers in the aforementioned Telegram channels," he told Berita Harian yesterday.
Mohd Shuhaily stated that the modus operandi involved inviting customers to subscribe through promotional links advertised by the suspect on the Telegram app before payment transactions were agreed upon.
"After payment is made, the suspect sends a link to the customer to continue watching the explicit videos that he himself performed and recorded.
"The investigation also found that on Jan 16, the suspect had 2,051 subscribers for a package of 200 videos with a payment of RM100 and 622 subscribers for a RM20 per month package for 13 videos.
"All subscribers to this app are Malaysians from the LGBTQ+ community and lonely women who have professional careers such as doctors, entrepreneurs, and the corporate sector," he said.
He added that some of the involved women who had a desire to engage in sexual activities with the suspect were offered terms to record intimate moments for future sales.
"At this time, the suspect and the two arrested female companions are also being tracked for their involvement in dozens of recorded videos.
"The police discovered all the suspect's recordings through the seizure of five mobile phones belonging to him and two female companions, as well as two ATM cards used as subscription accounts," he said.
This morning, the suspect, along with the two female companions, was allowed to be remanded for five days by the Sessions Court in Jalan Duta, here.
The case is being investigated under Section 372(1)(e) of the Penal Code for promoting sexual activities for profit, which carries a maximum penalty of 19 years in prison, whipping, and a fine if convicted.
Section 292 of the Penal Code for possessing explicit materials, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison, and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for misusing telecommunication network facilities.
Mohd Shuhaily stated that this is the first time such a case had been detected in the country and must be combated on a large scale as it is feared to cause a moral breakdown in society.