MELAKA: Two men from the Klang Valley claimed trial at a Magistrate's Court here for allegedly peddling a fake offer letter for the award of honorary titles in conjunction with the Melaka Yang di-Pertua Tun Dr Mohd Ali Rustam's 71st Birthday on Aug 24.

       The accused, Mohamed Fariq Abdul Rahman, 46, from Taman Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, and Abdullah Samsu @ Hanafi, 44, from Ampang, Selangor face charges under Section 468 of the Penal Code for forgery at the Magistrate's Court here on Tuesday (June 29).

       Under the Section, the two could face a jail term of up to seven years and fine upon conviction.

       The two had allegedly forged the offer letter with the signature of Melaka State Secretary Datuk Seri Dr Hasim Hasan with an intention to cheat.

       They were alleged to have committed the offence on March 31 at noon at the Melaka State Secretary’s office in the Melaka Tengah district.

       Magistrate Muhammad Nazrin Ali Rahim granted bail of RM3,000 each and fixed Aug 25 for the next mention of the case.

       Earlier, a statement from Melaka Commercial Crime Investigation Department officer Insp Koet Pei Ing said police acted against the two following a police report lodged by a 47-year-old female special officer from the state’s secretary office.

       The special officer had detailed that she had received a call from a woman on March 24 on the authenticity of the offer letter.

       The special officer also viewed the letter sent by the woman through WhatsApp and checked that it wasn’t issued by the state government before lodging a police report.

       A probe revealed that the duo had forged the offer letter dated March 24 and even created a fake email address.

       When contacted, Melaka Commercial Crime chief Supt E Sundra Rajan said the investigations into the peddling of fake “Datuk” titles are still ongoing.