Segamat.com

From NST Online

SEGAMAT: Several welfare officers from the Segamat Welfare Office are in trouble as their names are being used to con senior citizens and the physically-challenged who have applied for government housing schemes.

At least two men were involved in the scam and they cheated their victims by asking them to pay a deposit of between RM100 and RM350 .

Their modus operandi is to go to the houses of those who had just obtained their money under the Bantuan Raykat 1Malaysia (BR1M) programme.

To convince their victims, the suspects even asked them to go to the Segamat Welfare office if they had doubts.

As most of them had difficulty travelling, they preferred to hand over their money to the con men.

At least 10 people were cheated by the two con men who travelled on motorcycles.

Each time the victims lodged reports, the names of welfare officers were implicated.

However, the officers had nothing to do with the con men.

A welfare assistant officer, Mohd Azmi Abdul Razak, 24, said his name had been used twice by the con men and that he feels embarrassed because some people think that he is involved.

"My department even had me investigated when the cases were brought to light. It was after the investigation that my superior was convinced that I was innocent.

"I learned that the two con men who were impersonating me are riding a Honda EX5 and Yamaha RXZ and they are introducing themselves as Mohd Azmi from the Segamat welfare office.

"After that, they will ask for a payment for the government housing project," he said.