GEORGE TOWN: A man, believed to be a Casanova was detained by the police for allegedly cheating more than 20 women of more than RM500,000 through the social website, Facebook.

State Commercial Crime Investigation head, ACP Roslee Chik said the suspect, believed to have been operating since 2001, was detained at his rented house in Bukit Gambir on Jan 4.

He said the 45-year-old suspect, who claimed to be a doctor, befriended his victims, including teachers, nurses and factory workers, through Facebook and then promised to marry them.

"He managed to make the victims believe in him. He even meets their families and discusses marriage.

"Once he has gained the trust of the victims' families, he would tell them that he was having financial problems and would coax the victims to part with their money and jewellery before disappearing.

"Some of the victims even borrowed the money to give him. Some even gave him their cars," he told reporters here Monday.

Roslee urged victims of the man who used the names Dr Shiva Nair, Dr Ragunathan and Keeran Raj, to come forward to assist the police.

He said the suspect was married with two children and rented a house for RM1,800 a month.

When police searched the house they found, among others, jewellery worth RM30,000, 49.4gm of gold, pawn shop receipts, a jacket with the Health Ministry's logo and three handphones, he added.

He said the suspect, from Taiping, Perak, had six previous records for cheating. - Bernama

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