A mother of six was duped into parting with RM50,000...

A mother of six was duped into parting with RM50,000 by a confidence trickster who claimed that he had the "connections" to help her son who is in death row.Housewife Yong Chiaw, 64, from Pandan Jaya, said the man had told her that he could convince senior Home Ministry officials to commute the death sentence of Sam Hoon Choy to life imprisonment.Sam, now 37, was sentenced to death for robbing a Singaporean in 1990 outside a bank in Johor with a gun along with two accomplices.Yong said she met the man through her daughter after Sam's conviction."The man initially took RM30,000 as a pay-off for the top officials to commute Sam's punishment to life sentence," Yong said at a Press conference."Later they asked for another RM20,000."All I wanted was for them to spare my son's life. But it did not happen."But Sam's conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal in 2000 and his only hope now is a royal pardon.