By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, Oct 17: A 46-year-old man was slapped with four charges in the Magistrate’s Court today for impersonating as a Sesco technician to induce two individuals to part with a total of RM19,800.
Accused Shukor Abdul Majib from RPR Batu Kawa pleaded not guilty to all four charges.
In the case involving a 32-year-old woman, the accused was released on a cash bail of RM3,000 with one surety, and the pre-trial case management has been set for this Nov 11.
In the case involving a Chinese man, the accused was released on a cash bail of RM6,000 with two local surety, and the pre-trial case management has been set for this Nov 5.
There are two charges for each case.
In the first charge, Shukor was accused of cheating a 32-year-old woman by inducing her to believe that he could arrange for a new Sesco electricity meter connection, but she has to pay RM4,800 for the new meter from Syarikat Sesco Berhad. This incident allegedly happened on May 2016 at Ranyai Cafe, Jalan Stutong Baru.
He, thereby, is deemed to have committed an offence punishable under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
In the second charge, he was charged with pretending to hold the office of a technician of Syarikat Sesco Berhad, a public servant within the meaning of Section 21(j) of the Penal Code, and he knew he did not hold such office.
He, thereby, is deemed to have committed an offence punishable under Section 170 of the Penal Code.
According to the facts of this case, the complainant lodged a police report on Sept 24, 2018, after she learned from the media and from online news of the arrest of two men in connection with a fraud case of installing electricity meter from Syarikat Sesco Berhad on Sept 20. The complainant identified the suspect through a picture posted on the online news.
She told police she paid RM4,800 to the suspect between May 2016 and November 2016. Since December 2016, the complainant tried to contact the suspect but to no avail until she saw the news.
In the other case, Shukor was charged with cheating a Chinese man by inducing the complainant to believe that he could help him settle the fines for modifying Sesco electricity meter, but he had to pay RM15,000 to settle the penalty.
He, thereby, is deemed to have committed an offence punishable under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
In the other charge, the accused was charged with pretending to hold the office of a technician of Syarikat Sesco Berhad, a public servant within the meaning of Section 21(j) of the Penal Code.
He, thereby, is deemed to have committed an offence punishable under Section 170 of the Penal Code.
According to the facts of this case, the complainant handed over cash amounting to RM15,000 to the accused to settle the fines for modifying the electricity meter of Syarikat Sesco Berhad on August 4, 2016. But on June 10, 2017, the complainant received a letter from Syarikat Sesco Berhad asking for a payment of RM18,099.86 as fines for modifying the Sesco electricity meter. The complainant then realised he had been cheated.
The penalty upon conviction under Section 420 of the Penal Code shall be imprisonment for not less than one year and not more than ten years and with whipping and shall also be liable to a fine.
The penalty upon conviction under Section 170 of the Penal Code shall be imprisonment for a term of up to two years or a fine or both. — DayakDaily
