KOTA KINABALU: A 38-year-old local man was put behind bars for three years and ordered to be given two strokes of the cane for embezzling a total of RM371,315.08 belonging to his employer four years ago.
High Court deputy registrar Noor Hafizah Mohd Salim, who sat as a Sessions Court judge, imposed the sentence on Wong Tze Yuen, 38, after he pleaded guilty to committing criminal breach of trust involving RM287,568.42 in cash and stocks of cigarette amounting to RM83,746.66 between April 17, 2009 and Aug 31, 2010.
The unrepresented accused was convicted under Section 408 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of not less than one year and not more than 14 years and whipping and also liable to a fine, upon conviction.
The court ordered the accused to serve his jail sentence from the date of his arrest on May 29, 2012.
According to the facts of the case, the complainant, who is the manager of the company and runs a business of selling cigarettes, had lodged a report against the accused who was entrusted to manage the company’s stocks as well as supervising all the salesmen.
The complainant found that the accused had misused the company’s money and took away the cigarette stocks for his own interest.
In mitigation, Wong pleaded for a lenient sentence saying that he had repented of what he had done and urged the court not to impose a heavier sentence on him as he is the sole breadwinner.
Deputy public prosecutor Aida Jaafar Mad Ariff pressed for a deterrent punishment on the grounds that the accused had committed a serious crime.
Aida submitted that the amount of money involved in this case was so huge and a deterrent sentence would serve as a lesson to the accused as well as the public at large.