MUAR, MALAYSIA: In just 15 days, a Chinese national made RM6,100 (S$2,547) by using a physical disability to cash in on the caring nature of Malaysians.

Welfare Department investigations revealed that the 33-year-old with a stump on his right hand had deposited RM3,800 (S$1,586) into a bank on Monday.

Department officers detained him about 8pm at a hawker centre at Jalan Yahya on Thursday.

A check revealed that he had RM2,290 (S$956) on him and in a bag in a hotel room at Jalan Meriam.

Welfare officer Nazri Hussin said checks revealed that man from Jiangxi, who arrived in the country on July 4, had paid for the room prior to his arrival.

He used it as a base to go around hawker centres, something he had been doing for the past 17 years.

The beggar, who arrived in Muar on July 11, had entered the country three times since April on a tourist visa.

Nazri said it was also learnt that the man, a single parent with a 11-year-old son in China, had been begging in the country since he was 16.

"This is the first such case we have come across. We are referring him to the Immigration Department for further investigation."