Couple fall victim to bank loan scam, consider suicide after court charges
Financial pressure can drive a person to lose all rational thought.
So much so that 42-year-old M Arumugam, who claimed to be a victim of a bank loan scam that landed him in court facing multiple charges, said he had contemplated committing suicide.
The lorry driver claimed that he and his fiance...
Financial pressure can drive a person to lose all rational thought.
So much so that 42-year-old M Arumugam, who claimed to be a victim of a bank loan scam that landed him in court facing multiple charges, said he had contemplated committing suicide.
The lorry driver claimed that he and his fiance were cheated by an individual they got to know through Facebook, as they fell for false promises to help obtain a bank loan of up to RM30,000.
Arumugam said he had approached Tommy* (not his real name) in February, seeking help to cover costs of his son's college enrolment, after scoring 9As in the SPM examination last year.
This was because he was personally unable to obtain a bank loan, after being blacklisted.
"My son scored 9As in his SPM. He wanted to further his studies in the field of education but did not receive any offer from a public university.
"So it was my intention to enrol him in a private college, but I could not afford to because of my small salary," Arumugam said.
He shared how he got to know "Tommy" via the social media platform. His new friend then claimed to be able to secure a bank loan on his behalf.
Arumugam told Malaysiakini that in return, he only needed to pay Tommy eight percent commission after the loan was approved.
Arumugam, in the beginning, decided to do it under his fiancée's name but later he did it under his name as well.
"I believed him and gave him mine and my fiancée's information," he recalled.
Arumugam said Tommy then requested for their new ATM card to be couriered to his address, so that he can create “income transaction” to strengthen their accounts as it will be easier to get approval from the bank. This ATM card was to be used to withdraw the promised eight percent commission once the loan has been approved.
"Several days after our ATM card was delivered (to Tommy), we received a call from the police that there were reports lodged against our account.
"I was shocked to discover that Tommy had used our bank account to scam 27 individuals with a promise to help them secure bank loans," he said.
Arumugam said Tommy had demanded the 27 individuals to pay deposits, which were to be banked in to the new bank account that he opened.
"Tommy took it all and implicated us in this case," he said.
As a result of the reports lodged against the account, Arumugam said that together with his fiance, they could face up to 27 charges in court.
"I know suicide is not the answer. But due to intense pressure, we had to make the decision.
"We even bought the poison. Fortunately, my daughter alerted my mother who stopped us just in time," he recalled.
PSM deputy chairperson S Arutchelvan, speaking for Arumugam, said charges against the couple were brought under Section 29(1) of the Minor Offences Act 1955 on fraudulent possession of property.
Between him and his fiance, Arumugam said three cases have been heard and three were awaiting trial dates.
For the cases already heard, Arumugam said he paid a RM1,000 fine for two charges against his fiance at the Johor Baru Magistrate's Court, and RM5,000 for bail and settlement to withdraw another charge against her at the Bukit Mertajam Magistrate's Court.
Aside from the fine and cost of bail, Arumugam said they faced difficulties to be present in courts across different states, in Johor, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, and elsewhere.
Asked for the reason that his fiance pleaded guilty to two out of three charges heard so far, Arumugam said, "there was no choice".
"The police and deputy public prosecutors had advised us to plead guilty and pay the fine [...] for example, in one case bail was offered at RM3,000, but the fine was only RM500 with a guilty plea.
"So there was no other choice but to plead guilty," said Arumugam, adding that he had lodged two police reports against Tommy.
"But until now no arrest has been made.
"We really hope that Tommy will be arrested, otherwise there will be more victims like us," he said.
PSM seeks Attorney-General's help
Meanwhile, Arutchelvan (photo) said PSM has written a letter to Attorney-General Idris Harun, seeking his consideration to dropping all charges against the couple.
"They are not criminals, but they are victims of a scam by a third party.
"So, it is reasonable for the attorney-general to free them from all charges," said Arutchelvan.
Aside from Idris, Arutchelvan said he had also written to Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador and Bar Council president Salim Bashir Bhaskaran.
"We hope that justice will be served and victims of scams will not be punished," he stressed.
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