WHEN Prema's* friend, Sharon, introduced her to Devan, she thought she had finally met her match. He was a gentleman who opened doors and pulled up a chair for her. He also showered her with gifts – chocolates, flowers and jewellery. After a whirlwind courtship of a month, Devan proposed. Eager to settle down because she was in her late thirties, Prema quickly accepted the proposal. Prema's family, however, wasn't too eager on the marriage.

Trouble began almost immediately after the marriage. Devan turned from attentive lover to a husband who barely noticed her. When she became pregnant, Prema thought that her married life would change for the better. But to her horror, Devan was barely interested in their child and once even threatened not to pay her hospital bills.

However, Prema would make a more shocking discovery: she found out that Devan's brother-in-law was involved in a financial scam, and that the entire family was aware of it. One day, Prema discovered a stack of letters belonging to Devan and discovered that he too had been involved in some way in the scam.

“He was so charming, so kind. But I really regret marrying him now. But what can I do? We're already married, and I have a daughter,” said Prema sadly.

Cases like these are familiar to Brickfields Deputy OCPD Supt Arjunaidi Mohamed. In a case nearly identical to Prema's, a young Malay woman's family grew concerned when she decided to marry a man a month after meeting him. Her family did a background check on the man only to discover that he had a criminal record. Thankfully, the young woman was able to break off the engagement before the wedding took place.

When Ling* spotted the personal ad in the classifieds of the newspaper one day, she thought there was no harm in calling Tan, who was “looking for a partner”. After a brief conversation over the phone, they agreed to meet. He told Ling to meet him at KL Sentral.

Their first “date” was a disappointment because Tan never showed up. However, she found it difficult to be angry with Tan when he later called to tell her that his mother fell sick just as he was about to leave.

A day after their date, Tan called her and asked her whether they could meet again. He was staying at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur and he really wanted to see her this time. Ling quickly drove to the hotel, eager to meet Tan at last. This time, Tan pulled out all the stops, romancing her over a romantic candle lit dinner in one of the hotel's expensive restaurants.

Tan said that he needed RM11,500, which he didn't have, for his mother's funeral expenses. He didn't have the money to bury her, he said, distraught.

Moved, Ling went to the bank the next day, and withdrew RM8,500. The next day, Ling gave the money to Tan at the hotel. All appeared to be well. Tan was suitably thankful when he took the money. However, later in the day, Ling was taken aback when she received an sms from him asking for an additional RM3,000.

Her relationship with Tan quickly “fizzled out” after that. He began avoiding her, and did not return her calls. Then, one day, she couldn't get through his handphone.

He also appeared to be very well off. John said that he had studied overseas, and that he was the son of a Datuk and a nephew of a well-known corporate figure. He drove her in a fancy car during their dates and took her to expensive restaurants.

But there was one thing she found strange about John. One night, out of curiosity, she checked his wallet. She found that he brought no identification cards with him – he didn't even have his IC or driver's licence.

After a few dates, Alice went home with John to his condominium and had sex with him. Unfortunately, she didn't know that John had hidden cameras in the room that recorded their intimate act. She was horrified when he later showed nude pictures of her and told her that if she didn't do what he said, he would put the pictures up on the Internet or distribute it in a VCD.

Afraid for her career and reputation, Alice was forced to obey his commands. He took her credit cards, money and even told her to get a loan from the bank. Eventually, burdened by all the financial demands she ended up owing a lot of money to the bank and loan sharks.

One day, one of John's other victims lodged a police report. Alice found out that many other women had fallen for his tricks and had ended up financing and maintaining his many cars, houses and mobile phones.

Among his many victims was a 15-year-old girl. Like Alice, Aminah* had met John in an Internet chat room. After a month of romancing online, Aminah made a date with John. Unfortunately, her first date was a nightmare: John raped her.

Yet, Aminah was forced to “have a relationship” with her rapist because John had taken nude pictures of her – she was afraid that her parents would find out. However, her mother soon became suspicious when Aminah asked her for a loan for a few thousand ringgit. Her mum ended up confronting the “boyfriend” about his “request” via telephone and threatened to report him.

When she didn't hear from John after a while, Aminah's mother thought that that was the end of it. However, she noticed that her daughter was still depressed and even talked about dying.

When one of John's victims lodged a police report, Aminah was finally brave enough to lodge a report of her own – a year after she was raped. It was then that her mother found out the entire truth about Aminah's situation.

It was supposed to have been a dream holiday for Lei Ting, 19. The girl from China came to Kuala Lumpur with a friend. When her friends introduced her to Lam Fung Yan, she thought it was love at first sight. And apparently, according to Lam, it was the same for him.

“I only knew him for a few days, but he showered me with love and care. I could only see sincerity in his eyes at that time. So, I accepted him although he is 25 years older than me,” she said.

Lam was ever the ardent suitor. He took her around KL in his chauffeur-driven Mercedes Benz. And just a few days after their first meeting, they were headed to Kuantan for a supposedly dream holiday.

“I didn't expect these things to happen to me. I think I was drugged,” said Lei, between tears. She thought it was odd that Lam had spent more money on her than what he took from her.

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