KUALA LUMPUR: A Good Samaritan found herself in hot water after a portion of the donations she raised for 44 coffins for the needy were not accounted for in official bank statements.

Ivy Chong, a 27-year-old self-employed woman from Johor, is known among her friends and other do-gooders for her charitable efforts.

In January, a woman named Cindy Chua approached her and added her to a WeChat group that helps to purchase coffins for those who cannot afford it.

Chong managed to raise RM11,500 from her friends and members of the public and transferred the money to Chua and her husband's accounts.

Then another woman in the WeChat group, named Linda Lee, claimed she needed RM154,000 to buy coffins for 44 foreign workers.

Lee provided invoices for the coffins as well as death certificates of the foreign workers.

In response, Chong raised another RM45,500 and transferred the sum to Chua who acted as a middleman.

However, one of the people whom Chong had collected money from called her a con artist after discovering that the invoices and death certificates were forgeries.

It was then that Chong found out that RM19,000 of the total money transferred to Chua were not reflected in bank statements and were unaccounted for.

She lodged two police reports and also brought the matter up with MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong.

Chong advised the public to be cautious when making donations.

"I know Malaysians are kind-hearted, but if you want to donate, donate to the right place.

"If members of the public want to give donations, they should check properly (before giving)," he said at the MCA headquarters on Thursday (Feb 14).