PETALING JAYA: The Council of Datuk Dato’ Malaysia (MDDM) has lodged police reports against nine individuals for using fake Datuk, Datuk Seri and Tan Sri titles.
The individuals named included personalities in the corporate, entertainment and business sectors, and members of NGOs, said MDDM secretary-general Samson Mamon.
He said they had carried out checks on the individuals with the relevant bodies and found that their status was fake.
“We also came across a whole family using fake and unrecognised titles. Everyone in the family was a Datuk and we found none of them was legal,” he told reporters after lodging the reports at the Puchong Jaya police station.
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“We also found that individuals had been using their fake titles when appearing on talk shows,” he said, adding that people who get approached by those with these fake awards often contacted the council for verification.
He reminded Malaysians that buying or selling such titles is against Act 787 which covers offences related to awards.
Samson said the council is not an enforcement body, but merely wants Malaysians to be aware that it is an offence for anyone to claim to have these titles without having received them.
The public may check their authenticity at the official government portal at www.istiadat.gov.my.
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