Man loses car to con man with sob story

A RESTAURANT owner was taken in by a sob story and lent his car to a man he had met only four hours earlier.

L. Vijayakumar, 43, said he was approached by the man, who claimed to be a businessman in the information technology field, at his restaurant in Brickfield in January. The man pleaded to borrow his white Proton Iswara.

The man said he needed to use the car to transport computers from Malacca because his car had been damaged in a flood in Johor.

Feeling sorry for the man, who introduced himself as A. Nagarajah, 27, from Negeri Sembilan, Vijayakumar agreed to lend his car for two days from Jan 17.

Nagarajah left his contact number and what he said were his mother's and girlfriend's contact numbers with Vijayakumar. He even left a photocopy of his identity card.

Vijayakumar called Nagarajah two days later, but the man asked to keep the car for another eight days.

"I was afraid that if I didn't agree, he would not return my car," said Vijayakumar.

"But after that, I could no longer contact him. I tried calling his mother. Imagine my horror when the woman accused Nagarajah of stealing her jewellery and advised me to make a police report."

Vijayakumar lodged a report a Brickfields police station. He also checked the records on Nagarajah at Jalan Bandar traffic police headquarters.

"I was shocked to find that the man had more than 20 traffic summonses and an arrest warrant under his name."

Vijayakumar said following the incident, he is unable to claim his car's insurance and faces difficulty carrying out his restaurant business. - By KALBANA PERIMBANAYAGAM

Source: Malay Mail newspaper