Lai showing the forged season parking coupon on his left and the genuine one on his right.
MIRI: Miri City Council (MCC) has detected 11 cases of parking coupon forgery since the parking system was privatised in January this year.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, mayor Lawrence Lai said that forging of parking coupons is a criminal offence.
He also said forgery of parking coupons can be easily detected by the Miri Parking System (MPS) Integrated Parking Software System.
“MPS integrated Parking Software System can easily detect a forged or falsified MCC monthly or season parking coupon as the serial number on each season parking coupon is unique to that particular vehicle’s registration number.
“There are also physical and special water marking on genuine parking coupons which can only be bought at MPS office located at Miri City Council One Stop Centre here,” he said.
He stressed that MCC has never appointed anyone or any agent to sell MCC season coupons.
Saying that the coupons can only be bought at MCC, he advised motorists not to be fooled into buying fake coupons, no matter how cheap they may be.
Lai said the council believed that there might be a syndicate going around forging and selling the coupons, and warned perpetrators that they risk facing criminal charges.
“Forgery and falsifying of documents can be charged under Section 471 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment or fine of RM10,000 or both.
“A person must not make a false document with the intention that he or she or another person shall use it or to induce another person to accept as genuine. It can also be classified as counterfeiting as there is monetary value concerning the season parking coupons,” he explained.
Touching on the 11 cases detected, Lai said all of them had been reported to the police and were treated as criminal cases.
Of the 11 cases, five were forged monthly coupons detected at Jalan Permaisuri and Jalan Pos while six were quarterly or season coupons detected at Pelita Commercial Centre.
Lai advised members of the public approached by any person or individuals claiming that they sell season or normal parking coupons at a cheaper price to report the matter to the council.