Three-year jail, whipping for cheating

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KOTA KINABALU: The magistrates court here yesterday sentenced a local jobless man to three years in jail and ordered him to be given nine strokes of the cane after finding him guilty of nine counts of cheating involving RM98,750.

Magistrate Norhamizah Saiffuddin ruled that Rhyme @ Reymie Kassim’s defence failed to create reasonable doubt on all the nine charges.

Rhyme was jailed for three years and received one stroke of the cane for each of the charges.

However, Rhyme, who was represented by counsel Ram Singh, would only serve three years in jail after the court ordered the jail terms to run concurrently.

Norhamizah also allowed Rhyme’s application for a stay of execution pending appeal against the decision at the High Court here.

She extended Rhyme’s RM15,000 bail, to be deposited with two local sureties pending the disposal of the case.

Rhyme had cheated one Hj Sudir Taha of a total of RM98,750 as deposit payment of fees for nine tender projects to clean up the diagnosis laboratory of Veterinary and Animal Department.

He committed the offences between Nov 24, 2009 and Feb 28, this year in front of Sadong Jaya Maybank,  Sea Park Condotel, Tanjung Aru, CIMB Bank in Putatan and Burger King in Putatan.

Each of the charges under Section 420 of the Penal Code provides for a jail term of between one and 10 years and whipping and also be liable to a fine on conviction.

Rhyme was previously tried for 15 charges of cheating the same person involving RM139, 750.

However, on Nov 19, this year, the court acquitted and discharged Rhym of six out of the 15 charges without his defence being called as the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against him.

Rhyme was the only witness who testified in the court during the defence’s stage.

Deputy public prosecutor Wan Aiman Azwan Wan Fakhruddin prosecuted the case.