Penang Islamic Affairs Department busts fake marriage syndicate
The 8.55pm raid on July 24, carried out by religious enforcement officers, marked the department's first successful case involving the arrest of a bogus marriage officiant and his middleman acting as a fraudulent solemnisation agent.
A source said seven people, including two women, were present at the time of the raid and were involved in the ceremony.
Those detained included a man posing as the jurunikah (marriage registrars), his agent, the groom, two witnesses, the bride, and her chaperone.
"Both the marriage registrar and the middleman failed to produce valid identification documents and were suspected to be impersonators.
"Following this, the 60-year-old jurunikah and the 73-year-old middleman were arrested under Section 19 of the Penang Syariah Criminal Procedure Enactment," the source said.
The registrar had allegedly conducted the solemnisation ceremony despite not being accredited or appointed as a Registrar of Marriage, Divorce and Reconciliation in Penang.
It is understood that the syndicate charged RM3,000 for each wedding conducted.
The registrar was charged in the Seberang Perai Tengah Lower Syariah Court under Sections 39 and 40(1)(a) of the Penang Islamic Family Law Enactment 2004.
The middleman was charged with abetment under Section 134 of the same enactment.
Judge Mohd Mirza Abdul Rashid sentenced the fake registrar to two months' imprisonment and a RM950 fine, or one month in prison for each charge if he failed to pay the fine.
The elderly middleman was sentenced to one month in prison and fined RM950, or two months' imprisonment if he failed to pay, for the first offence; and another one-month jail term for the second offence if the fine was not paid.
The prosecution was handled by Syariah prosecutors Muhamad Saiful Azlimi Mokhtar and Siti Aminah Abdul Halim.
The department is continuing its investigations to identify other couples previously "married" by the duo.
When contacted, Muhamad Saiful confirmed that the case involved a trader named Zasmy Abdullah from Padang Lalang, Bukit Mertajam, who posed as the registrar and a ride-hailing driver, Salim Md Desa from Jalan Sungai Rambai, Bukit Mertajam, who acted as his agent.
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