Taiwanese tourist says ordeal started when Malaysian police stopped her family at a roadblock
A Taiwanese woman who visited Kuala Lumpur with her family has accused Malaysian police officers of extorting money from her.
In a viral Facebook post on 14 July, Ms Fang Yan’er said one of the officers later pestered her to go out for drinks with him.
Source: 方妍兒 on Facebook
Taiwanese woman & family stopped by police at roadblock
The frightening ordeal started at about 9pm on 7 July, when Ms Fang and her family were taking a Grab ride to a night market in KL.
Just before it turned a corner to the night market, their ride was stopped by a roadblock manned by about seven to eight police officers, she said.
Source: 方妍兒 on Facebook
The group produced their passports as requested, but in her fluster, she accidentally pressed the “record” button on her phone, which took a 10-second clip of her looking for her passport.
One of the officers saw this and shouted at her, then told her to get out of the car.
Officers allegedly threaten to fine Taiwanese tourist or lock her in police station
Ms Fang said she had tried to explain, but they did not listen and instead took her phone from her.
They did not let her use her translation app or make phone calls, and threatened to fine her RM10,000 (S$3,000) or she would be locked in the police station overnight, she alleged.
When she said she didn’t have much cash on her, they said they could take her to an ATM.
She then said she didn’t have her ATM card on her, only small change and a credit card.
They then purportedly forced her to change her phone settings to English so they could delete the video she had just taken and look through her photos.
They allegedly also unlocked her banking app using facial recognition and enquired how much she had in her bank account, as well as how much she could convert to ringgit. She added:
I was completely terrified and didn’t dare to resist. The only thing I could think of was: How can I leave safely?
Grab driver purportedly drove off with her family
The Grab driver did not help either, Ms Fang said.
He simply asked the officers whether he could leave, and drove off with her family, leaving her alone.
She pleaded with the police not to separate her from her family as they did not understand English, but they purportedly ignored her.
She then managed to call a friend, who spoke with one of the officers while pretending to be a lawyer.
But they got into an argument and the officer allegedly proceeded to block and delete her friend’s contact.
Police officer allegedly asks for S$300 & for her to go to a bar with him
The officer then allegedly demanded RM1,000 (S$300) from Ms Fang, and for her to accompany him to a bar.
When she said she did not have that much cash on her, she was told to call her family to ask them how much cash they had.
She claimed that she saw some locals being detained too, with one paying RM5,000 (S$1,500) to be released.
She tried asking for help from those who spoke Mandarin, but the officer stopped them and pulled her into a corner, she alleged.
Police officer allegedly offers to let her go if she goes for drinks with him
It was then that the officers started flirting with her, Ms Fang said, asking her where she was from and whether she was single.
This made her feel very humiliated and scared, she added.
Then, she was again threatened with detention if she didn’t pay, but one officer suggested that he would let her go if she went for a drink with her.
He also allegedly asked for her number, saying he would meet her after work and not to tell anybody about this, including her friend.
Source: 方妍兒 on Facebook
Desperate to be released, she agreed, and he drove her to a 7-Eleven outlet nearby where her family gave him RM300 (S$90)
That was when she was finally let go, at almost midnight.
Taiwanese tourist changes hotel to avoid police officer
However, Ms Fang’s ordeal was not over as she had promised to go for drinks with the police officer.
Source: 方妍兒 on Facebook
As she was afraid to return to her hotel, as the officer knew where she lived, she booked another hotel.
She then booked a Grab for her family to return to their original hotel to collect their luggage, and another one for herself to head to the new hotel.
According to screenshots of her WhatsApp conversation with the officer, she tried to stall him so her family had time to pack their stuff and leave the hotel.
Source: 方妍兒 on Facebook
When she was safely reunited with her family in the new hotel, she told the officer that she could not meet him.
Police officer allegedly continues to harass Taiwanese tourist
But he allegedly continued to harass her, trying to persuade her to go out and even saying that he would give her back her money.
Source: 方妍兒 on Facebook
He even showed up at her previous hotel, calling her and messaging her to ask where she was, she said.
Source: 方妍兒 on Facebook
From the screenshots, his messages started getting more desperate, saying he really needed her to “hang out” with him and he was “very sad” that she didn’t oblige despite him helping her earlier.
Source: 方妍兒 on Facebook
Scared, Ms Fang blocked him, took screenshots of the conversation and turned off her phone, she said.
She also warned other travellers to stay alert and not to place too much trust in “unfamiliar authorities”.
Source: 方妍兒 on Facebook
Police investigating case
Ms Fang’s post went viral, gaining more than 2,000 reactions and 3,600 shares on Facebook at the time of this article.
This led Mr Lim Lip Eng, a Democratic Action Party MP for the Kepong constituency in KL, to send a party official to the police station to follow up on the case, with her consent.
He posted on Facebook that the police chief has confirmed the identity of the officers involved and a formal police report had been lodged.
The authorities will launch an investigation under Malaysia’s Penal Code, and the Department of Integrity and Compliance Standards will also open an internal investigation.
Petaling Jaya police chief Shahrulnizam Ja’afar was quoted as saying by The New Straits Times that the incident is being probed as a case of extortion.
Those found guilty face up to 10 years in prison, a fine, caning or any combination of these punishments.
Assistant Commissioner Shahrulnizam also said that the case is being taken seriously and no compromises would be made if any police officer is found to be abusing their position.
Also read: 2 JB checkpoint police officers arrested after allegedly trying to extort S$570 from man
2 JB checkpoint police officers arrested after allegedly trying to extort S$570 from man
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Featured image adapted from 方妍兒 on Facebook.
