Fake monks, syndicates scam thousands in donations, says Penang dept

GEORGE TOWN, June 15 ― Foreigners posing as monks are duping the public out of thousands in donations daily before they are caught and deported, said Penang Social Welfare Department director Said Sidup.

The public tended to be more generous when it came to religious folk, he explained when elaborating on an earlier report in which he said there were beggars here who could take in as much as RM1,000 daily.

“We don't have the authority to arrest them so when we round up beggars, including these false monks, we will send them to the Immigration Department for further action,” he said.

“We also verify their status by checking their passports before handing them over to immigration for further action,” he said in a telephone interview with the Malay Mail Online.

He said real monks, even foreign ones, did not beg for money on the streets as they are not allowed to accept cash in lieu of food.

The false monks are believed to be from countries such as Thailand, Cambodia and India.

Said said there are also beggar syndicates that have been operating for a long time to pocket easy money from the public.

“It is hard for us to prove this, but there are vans dropping off beggars, especially the disabled ones, at a certain spot for the day and coming back to pick them up later,” he said.

He said they are still trying to track the syndicates but, currently, enforcement officers can only round up the beggars and send them for rehabilitation.

Due to the generosity of the Malaysian public, Said begging could earn syndicates and individual pan-handlers several times the average wage.

“It depends on where they beg, if there are big crowds, they could get more. And this month it's Ramadan, so people are more generous and they will donate RM1 to RM2 each to beggars,” he said.

The department conducts regular operations to round up the beggars from the streets, but Said explained that this was not arrest but rather “saving them from the streets”.

Locals who are rounded up are first sent to Rumah Kenangan for a month; if they have families, they will be sent home with their families after that, he said.

Those without families and under 60 years' old will be sent to rehabilitation centres after that. Those aged above 60 years of age will remain at the Rumah Kenangan.

“All foreigners will be sent to Immigration department as they are out of our jurisdiction,” he said.

He reminded the public not to donate to beggars as this will not only be helping those syndicates but also encouraging beggars to continue begging.

“Donate to the mosques, temples or charitable organisations but not to beggars, at most, you can offer them food if you want to help,” he said.

from Malay Mail Online | All http://ift.tt/2399h8d

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