KUALA LUMPUR: The father of Nour Rania Asyifaa Yuseri (Baby Syifaa), who died at a childcare centre in Bandar Sri Sendayan in 2022, has been arrested by the police.
The arrest was made to facilitate investigations into a fraud case involving legal fees.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf confirmed that the man was detained by Wangsa Maju CCID officers at around 2.45pm yesterday.
"We are investigating the case under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating," he said.
The man, who is also an activist, stands accused of embezzling public donations, which were directed into a bank account linked to a company he established.
Hafiz Norkhan, the former observing attorney for Baby Syifaa's family, denied that the embezzled funds were used to initiate work on the case.
He said that he was unaware his name was being used until informed by other complainants, prompting him to file a police report.
In a related matter, last year, Hafiz and Bada Hussein who is the father of Dea Maisarah, lodged police reports alleging that an activist had misappropriated RM53,000 in public donations meant for the management of Dea Maisarah Bada's death.
Hafiz disclosed that police had recorded his statement following a report lodged by Bada on Nov 17 last year.
He provided evidence of public transactions that highlighted irregularities in the case.
Dea Maisarah, 10, allegedly died while receiving treatment at Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR) after being admitted on July 9 for fever and flu.