#SHOWBIZ: Azrul: Along Cham's wife kept asking about transaction to relief fund

KUALA LUMPUR: Comedian and host Azrul Zaidi has revealed that Along Cham's wife, Afreena Suhaimi, repeatedly contacted him for donations while her husband was in police custody.

Speaking to Harian Metro, Azrul said he chose not to contribute as he found Afreena's approach suspicious.

"Afreena contacted me via Instagram while Along was detained. I didn't know her until she introduced herself as his wife.

"Even though Along and I hadn't spoken in years, I assumed she wanted to talk and asked for my phone number.

"When she reached out via WhatsApp, she mentioned setting up a relief fund for legal fees and sent me a QR code for donations. But within minutes, she asked if I had transferred the money. She kept following up, which made me feel uneasy," he said.

Azrul was also surprised to find that all her messages had later been deleted.

"After Along revealed that he never received the money his wife collected, I tried to retrieve our conversation, but all her messages were gone from Instagram and WhatsApp."

Azrul added that he and Along had not been in contact since 2016, after their participation in Maharaja Lawak Mega.

"Along's wife told me he still had my number, but she wasn't sure if I was using the same one before messaging me on Instagram."

Recently, Along alleged that Afreena misused nearly RM100,000 in donated funds. The comedian and actor also claimed that actor Datuk Aaron Aziz was among those who contributed.

In response, Afreena lodged a police report at the Kajang District Police Headquarters, claiming she was deceived by a woman named Ika, to whom she had transferred RM95,180 intended for Along's legal aid.