MALAYSIA - A businessman's jilted lover sent nude photographs of him to his wife because he refused to pay her RM50,000 (S$20,000). The man, 43, who only wants to be known as Mr Chin, said he broke up with the Chinese woman from Jiangxi, China, last month after she flew to Malaysia to look for him.
Said Mr Chin: "My wife has not forgiven me and she says she wants a divorce."
He approached the Malaysian Chinese Association's (MCA) Public Services and Complaints Department for help in solving the matter earlier this week. His wife, with whom he has four children, received the photos via MMS from a foreign number.
Break-up fee
Mr Chin said that the woman, known only as Ms Chen, 24, had asked for the money as a "break-up and settlement fee".
He said he had been in a relationship with her since 2011, when he started making business trips to China, The Star reported.
He also said he knew that she had taken photos and video clips on her mobile phone last year, but thought she had deleted them.
MCA's Michael Chong said he had seen seven such cases this year and most of the victims had relationships with Chinese nationals.
He advised the victims not to pay the blackmail amount.
He said he recorded seven such cases this year and nine last year, involving nude photographs and blackmail threats, observing that most of the victims had engaged in relationships with individuals from China.
He said women would normally get blackmailed into paying for the men's livelihood, while men normally fell victim when they went on overseas business trips. "Blackmail is disastrous because the amount asked will be in the thousands. Some are also very smart, they don't want ringgit but US dollars. "I always advise victims that they should never pay the blackmail sum. Once you start, you will end up paying till you die," he said, stressing that suicide was also not the answer.
Mr Chong said victims must instead "fight back and deal with it" even though the truth might cause families to break up.
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