KOTA KINABALU: A local man faces a maximum jail of 10 years and whipping if he is found guilty of cheating a woman involving a sum of RM55,141.70 last month.
Mahathir Zulkifli Chong, 30, was charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code for deceiving a 50-year-old woman into believing that the payment that he (Chong) made using a cheque as true whereas Chong knew that the bank account had been terminated since 2009.
In return, Chong had allegedly induced the victim to supply to him RM55,141.70 worth of building materials at an industrial area in Inanam at 11.30am on Aug 5, 2011.
Magistrate Lovely Natasha Charles, who sat as a magistrate, fixed April 27 this year for the trial of the unrepresented accused, who was granted RM4,000 bail with three local sureties.
In a separate case, an unemployed Indonesian man, who is now serving sentence for a cheating conviction, received another one year and three months?jail term for possessing a fake MyKad.
Reduan Ali, 29, admitted to a charge framed under Section 25 (1) (e) of the National Registration Regulations 1990 which carries a maximum jail of three years, or a fine of between RM3,000 and RM20,000, upon conviction.
Prosecuting officer Inspector Syahrin Ali told the court that the accused was caught with the fake identity card in his possession at Taman Likas Jaya, Jalan Tuaran on Feb 12.
Charles ordered Reduan’s jail sentence to run after the latter’s current jail term.
In mitigation, the accused pleaded for a lenient sentence.
Syahrin replied that Sabah did not need such people to be in the State and urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence on the accused.
He pointed out that the accused had been convicted of cheating and was sentenced to one year jail plus a RM500 fine, in default, 30 days jails.
Reduan was also ordered to be referred to the Immigration Department after serving sentence for further action.