Politician’s son claims trial to cheating senior cop by name-dropping MACC bigwigs

KOTA KINABALU: A politician’s son who allegedly hoodwinked a top police officer here into giving him almost RM50,000 has been charged with cheating at the Special Corruption Court here on Wednesday (Jan 10).

Aries Ryan Philip Among, 30, was accused of claiming to be, among others, sent by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki to get the senior officer to part with RM14,300 as a personal loan as well as RM27,000 as a gift to attend his (Azam’s) child’s convocation in Australia.

Aries, the son of former Sabah STAR leader Philip Among, pleaded not guilty to the charges under Section 419 of the Penal Code for cheating by personation before judge Jason Juga.

The accused, who purportedly used WhatsApp to commit the act, also faces two alternative charges framed under Section 417 of the same Code for cheating for the same offences.

He also pleaded not guilty to the alternative charges.

On the first count, Aries, a businessman, was accused of deceiving the senior police officer into wiring RM8,000 into a bank account after pretending to be the MACC deputy commissioner Datuk Seri Ahmad Khusairi Yahya on WhatsApp.

The accused convinced the officer to deposit the money in an account under another name, claiming it was a contribution for “lembu korban” (sacrificial cattle).

He was accused of committing the act at a bungalow at the Sabah police contingent headquarters in Kepayan at 11.46am on June 24.

For the second charge, Aries was accused of pretending to be Azam through WhatsApp and cheating the same officer of a total of RM41,300 at the same bungalow at 11.22am on June 30.

The accused had allegedly convinced the officer to first deposit RM27,000 into a bank account, also under another person’s name, as a contribution to attend the convocation in Sydney.

The accused subsequently convinced the officer to bank in a further RM14,300 to him as a loan.

The court then fixed Feb 14 for case management and granted the accused bail of RM40,000 with a RM5,000 deposit and one local surety.

Pending disposal of the case, he was also ordered to report to the MACC once every two months and surrender his international passport to the court.

The court also instructed the accused not to tamper with the witnesses.

DPP Nurul Izzati Sapifee appeared for the prosecution, while the accused was represented by counsel Muhamad Amirul Amin.