Melaka police chief Abdul Majid Mohd Ali said all of them were detained in Bangi, Selangor on Jan 30 to facilitate investigations under Section 12(2) of the Act.

He said the couple, aged 43 and 49, were believed to be the founder and secretary of the association while another suspect, a 57-year-old man, was the group’s publicist.

Majid said the dinner held at a hotel in Jalan Hang Tuah here in August last year was attended by about 120 people.

“Preliminary investigations found that the main suspect, a businessman, had led the association and the letters and titles they received were fake and believed to have been awarded by the so-called ‘Soltan Keradjaan Indragiri’, who is based in a neighbouring country,” he told a press conference here today.

Majid said a check also revealed that the three suspects had never been awarded the Darjah Kebesaran Bintang dan Pingat Persekutuan nor the Darjah Kebesaran Negeri.

“We have also confiscated items such as certificates, letters and the list of recipients of awards and medals,” he said.

He added that the investigation was also carried out under Section 420 of the Penal Code after it was believed that there also were guests using unrecognised “Datuk” titles to commit fraud.