KOTA BARU: Mohd Amri Iskandar (not his real name) has been a widower for many years since his wife died due to breast cancer.
However, the 48-year-old businessman from Pahang decided to remarry last year and choose a woman 20 years younger than him as his new wife.
Amri said their plan to tie the knot was rejected by the woman's family, resulting in their eloping.
"Early last year, we decided to get married in southern Thailand, but as both of us are busy working and could not take extended leave, we chose to travel to Kelantan on the weekend.
"I managed to contact an agent via social media. The man claimed that he was an agent of an imam who works at the Narathiwat Religious Council.
"I explained our problem to him, and he told us he could help.
"He said he would get the imam and the wali and prep for the 'akad nikah' to be held in Kelantan without needing us to travel to Narathiwat," he told the New Straits Times.
Amir said in March last year, they travelled to Kelantan and were later taken to a house in a village in Pasir Mas.
"The house is located in a remote area close to the Golok River. Arrived there, l was introduced to a man who claimed to be an imam.
"The way he dressed by wearing a robe and` kopiah' indicated that he was a pious imam.
"We then were married by the imam, and l paid him RM4,000 for the akad nikah and other processes, including the marriage certificate, which he claimed would be completed in a day," he said.
Amir said he and his 28-year-old wife then returned to their hotel in Kota Baru, waiting for the call from the agent.
The following day, the agent visited the newlywed couple at the hotel and handed over the marriage certificate.
Amir said he gave the agent another RM500 as requested for the fee of bringing the certificate from the council, as he claimed.
He said he thought he would live happily with his new wife, and what happened next shocked them.
"When we went to the religious department in our hometown to register our marriage, we were informed that the marriage was not valid and the certificate was fake.
"Checks later with the religious authorities in Narathiwat showed that the council authorised no such imam. It turned out that the imam is also bogus," he added.
Amir said they then travelled to Narathiwat early this year to tie the knot again.
"We have successfully re-registered our marriage with the Malaysia religious department.
"Losing nearly RM5,000, including the travel costs and accommodation, is not a big deal.
"What surprised us is that the syndicate cheated us. We hope what happened to us will be a lesson to others," he added.
It was reported that many Malaysian couples, including those with 'Datuk' titles, had fallen prey to fake imams from the border marriage syndicates just because they pretended to be pious and wear robes and kopiah.
These bogus imams typically work with marriage syndicates that operate along the Malaysia-Thai border, particularly in Kelantan.
This was disclosed by Narathiwat Islamic Council Department's vice-president Abdul Aziz Che Mamat.
He said these fake imams are very good at disguising themselves to attract Malaysian couples who want to get married.
Those whom these fake imams cheated were from various backgrounds, including professionals and politicians.