Question for the golf pros out there

Every weekend, my cousin and I play golf and have a friendly competition. He has always been one to try and cut corners and pull shady moves.

What took place today however, has taken the cake for all the random BS rules he creates (unless I am wrong).

My question for y'all regards sand traps. After a bad shot that landed in the sand near the green, he walked up to his ball and saw that it was buried about 50% in the sand. As I thought about how many strokes I was about to pick up, he tells me he is going to take a lateral hazard, picks his ball up, and places it out of the trap and on the second cut, within putting distance. He tells me he is going to take a penalty stroke for this action and continues to play his ball. I gave him a wtf look but rather than pointing out this bullshite move, I let him play on and we continue the round.

So again, my question is can a golfer remove a ball from the sand trap and place it outside of the trap while counting the action as a penalty stroke? Common sense would say no as well as it being a total puss move. I also briefly searched the web and found noting about this urban rule.

Any help?