ALOR STAR: "Lastly, if I ever repeat this mistake again, I am willing to face a police investigation and I will allow everyone to expose me as a fraudster in the news, so that it will serve as a lesson to others."
Those are the closing part of a letter penned by a public university student in April, profusely apologising for his mistake.
However, on Wednesday, the 23-year-old student was back in the police lock up again for allegedly deceiving a charitable organisation into raising donations intended for his tuition fees.
The letter, sighted by the New Straits Times, was written by the suspect to a Chinese daily after he was caught trying to deceive the publication to obtain a fund to buy a laptop early this year.
In the letter, the suspect admitted his guilt of duping well-wishers to pay off his gambling debt.
"Since March this year, I have been involved in online gambling. Initially, I won quite a bit, around RM15,000-RM20,000.
"However, after that, I lost almost all the money I had won, along with some of my own savings. In the end, when I had no more money, I started taking up loans online," he wrote.
The suspect admitted that between July and August, he began deceiving kind-hearted people for money.
"Due to my debts, I began taking advantage of many people's kindness by deceiving them. The most despicable thing I did was using my father's stroke, my mother's job as a hawker vendor, and my brother and sister's education as excuses to deceive others for money," wrote the eldest child of three.
In the letter, he had admitted having used forged receipts and tuition fee bills to dupe his victims, from media organisation to charitable bodies, temple committees and individuals.
He admitted duping over RM30,000 from all the victims he mentioned in the letter.
"The worst part is that I didn't repent and continued to deceive others, causing my parents to cry continuously. They work hard, and yet I made them worry about their unfilial son.
Although I tried to change my ways, I eventually reverted to being a fraudster," he wrote.
In the letter, the suspect had profusely apologised for his mistakes and pleaded for a second chance to redeem himself.
"Here, I genuinely apologise to everyone I deceived. I humbly ask for a second chance to be a decent person. I am deeply sorry," he wrote.
Despite being granted with an opportunity to turn a new leaf, the suspect landed himself in trouble again, this time for allegedly deceiving Cancer Survivors Malaysia (CSM).
Yesterday, Kubang Pasu police obtained a two-day remand order against the suspect for investigation under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
The arrest followed a police report filed by CSM chairman Zurani Kamal.
In her report, Zurani alleged that the student had misled CSM and others by claiming his family was experiencing financial difficulties and needed assistance with his tuition fees.
Moved by his story, Zurani shared his plight on her Facebook page, including his bank account details.
Within hours, she raised RM1,176, only to later discover from a charitable organisation in Penang that the suspect had collected over RM30,000 but used the funds for online gambling instead.
Yesterday, two more police reports were lodged against the suspects by charitable organisations in Bukit Mertajam, Penang and Teluk Intan, Perak.