By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, March 1: The Magistrate’s Court today imposed a fine of RM2,500 or four months imprisonment on a man for disposing of three stolen bonsai trees by selling them.
Michael Then Bui Kiong, 45, pleaded guilty to the charge under Section 414 of the Penal Code read before Magistrate Syarifah Fatimah Azura Wan Ali.
According to the charge, he was accused of intentionally disposing of three stolen bonsai trees belonging to a 35-year-old woman. He committed the offense at a premises in a house on Jalan Landeh around 8am on February 25.
Based on the case facts, during the incident, the complainant’s mother informed the complainant that three pots of bonsai plants had been stolen.
Subsequently, the complainant checked the closed-circuit television (CCTV) recordings and found an unidentified man had stolen all the pots of bonsai plants.
A police report was made by the complainant, leading to the arrest of the accused at a house on Jalan Datuk Stephen Yong around 4pm on the same day.
The estimated loss suffered by the complainant is around RM3,000.
Investigations revealed that the accused had disposed of the stolen property by selling it to another person for RM250.
The prosecution of the case was handled by Inspector Nur Shafiqa Nyaie Ilin, while a lawyer did not represent the accused. — DayakDaily
