BUKIT MERTAJAM: A recently-married man who lacked money to pay for a wedding ceremony, as demanded by his bride’s family, resorted to fraud by claiming that he had been robbed of RM10,000.
The 45-year-old technician from Perai even went so far as to lodge a police report with a fabricated story about how the wedding money was stolen, Bernama reported.
The man claimed that he was riding home on his Yamaha RXZ motorcycle, while carrying a sling bag containing RM10,000 in cash, when he was held up by two men on Friday.
He claimed he was passing a printing factory at about 10.30am when he was accosted by two men who were also on motorcycles.
But a police investigation of the alleged robbery – which included a review of closed circuit television (CCTV) footage from the area – revealed that no crime had taken place.
When pressed on the matter, the man confessed to having lodged a false police report in an effort to postpone his wedding ceremony as he was hard-pressed for money.
It is learnt that the couple’s solemnisation ceremony had been conducted on June 15, but the wedding feast had yet to take place.
“According to the technician, the family on the bride’s side had asked for money to prepare for the wedding ceremony on Aug 25, causing him to feel pressured to make the false report.
“Further investigation revealed that the technician had also lodged a false police report in 2010,” Seberang Perai Tengah district police chief Assistant Commissioner Nik Ros Azhan Nik Abdul Hamid said.
He added that the man had been remanded for four days to help in an investigation under Section 182 of the Penal Code, which provides for a six-month jail term or RM2,000 fine, or both, upon conviction.