By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, Sept 3: A 39-year-old former bank manager has been sentenced to a total of 75 years in jail, 16 strokes of the cane and RM40 million in fines after admitting to cheating eight elderly clients of nearly RM1.6 million through a bogus bond investment scheme.
The accused pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Sept 2) to 24 charges before Sessions Court Judge Iris Awen Jon — 16 counts of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code and eight counts under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA).
The charges were read to him through a Mandarin interpreter.
Court documents showed that the accused, who worked as a relationship manager at an international bank here, exploited his position between March 2022 and June 2024 to target eight clients, all aged between their 60s and 70s.
His role involved advising customers on financial products including bonds, unit trusts and fixed deposits, as well as facilitating local and international fund transfers.
He allegedly used that position of trust to convince the victims to invest in a supposed “Bond” product offering unusually high returns.
The victims, believing the investment was legitimate, signed remittance forms and, in some cases, provided biometric fingerprint verification.
However, instead of investing their money as promised, the accused allegedly completed the paperwork to divert the funds into accounts belonging to third parties.
The unauthorised transfers were carried out through DuitNow, Interbank GIRO and cashier’s orders, without the victims knowingly authorising the transactions.
The third parties subsequently returned the money to the accused, who used the proceeds to settle personal debts, pay commissions and finance renovation works.
Investigations traced a total of RM1,587,971.48 in 16 unauthorised transactions to a bank branch along Jalan Rock.
For each of the 16 cheating charges, Judge Iris sentenced the accused to between three and four years’ imprisonment and one stroke of the cane.
The jail terms for the cheating charges are to run concurrently from the date of his remand on May 23, 2025.
On the eight AMLA charges, the accused was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and fined RM5 million for each count, with an additional four months’ jail for each count if the respective fine is not paid.
Those sentences are to run concurrently from Wednesday’s conviction.
In effect, the accused will serve four years’ imprisonment and receive 16 strokes of the cane for the cheating offences, while the three-year sentences for the money-laundering offences will run concurrently.
He was also ordered to pay RM40 million in fines. Failure to pay the fines will result in an additional 32 months’ imprisonment.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Maryam Jamielah Ab Manaff of the Attorney General’s Chambers in Putrajaya prosecuted the AMLA charges, while Deputy Public Prosecutor Chuah Kai Sheng handled the cheating charges.
The accused was unrepresented in court. — DayakDaily
