By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, March 20: A man was sentenced to a fine of RM1,000 or one month in prison by the Magistrate’s Court here today for possessing illicit funds in his personal account.
Ng Hock Cheng, 54, pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 37(1) of the Sarawak Minor Offences Ordinance 1958 read before Magistrate Zubaidah Sharkawi.
The accused was charged with receiving transactions amounting to RM5,000 in his personal bank account at a residence on Jalan Batu Kawa on January 22 last year.
If convicted, he faced imprisonment of up to three months and a minimum fine of RM500.
Based on the facts of the case, the complainant, a foreign national, made a payment of RM5,000 into the accused’s personal account to obtain a red Malaysian identity card.
It is understood that the complainant, in communication via WhatsApp, was promised the card by the accused, and several payment transactions to several other individual accounts were purportedly made to expedite the process.
The complainant was also given a letter by the accused to collect the ready red identity card.
When attempting to collect the identity card at the Malaysian Immigration Department, the complainant was informed that the application did not exist.
Feeling deceived, the complainant then lodged a police report for further action and investigation.
As a result, the investigation into the transactions of funds into the accused’s account failed to reveal any reasonable explanation for the entry of the RM5,000 into his personal account.
The prosecution of the case was conducted by Inspector Nur Shafiqa Nyaie Ilin, while the accused was not represented by a lawyer. — DayakDaily
