KOTA KINABALU: A young woman was jailed a total of 204 years and received a hefty fine from the Sessions Court here yesterday for 61 counts of embezzling half a million ringgit in cash belonging to a restaurant.
Judge Ummu Kalthom Abdul Samad meted out the jail sentence on Ng Yung Chin and fined her RM690,000, in default, 138 months’ imprisonment after finding the latter guilty of all the charges under Section 408 of the Penal Code.
The indictment carries a maximum jail of 14 years or with a fine and also liable to whipping, upon conviction.
The judge held that the 26-year-old accused, who was represented by counsel Loretto S. Padua Jr, had failed to cast doubt on the prosecution’s case.
In her reserved judgment, the judge ruled that she had taken into consideration public interest as well as the gravity of the offence before imposing the sentences.
She further held that the court had also taken into account the facts of the case where the accused had been given a big responsibility but could not be trusted.
The judge also said a deterrent sentence should be imposed on the accused to prevent would-be offenders from committing a similar offence in the future.
However, the accused was spared from whipping due to her gender.
For the first to the 52nd charges, Ng was sentenced to three years’ jail each, and fined RM10,000, in default, two months’ jail.
On the 53rd to 56th charges, the accused received another four years’ jail and received RM15,000 fine each, in default, three months’ imprisonment.
For another four charges, the accused received another six years’ jail each and RM20,000 fine, in default, four months’ imprisonment while for another charge, she was sentenced to eight years’ jail plus RM30,000 fine, in default, six months’ jail.
The court ordered the accused to serve her jail sentences concurrently, which is eight years.
The accused had committed a criminal breach of trust involving RM556,168.45 between December 2011 and December 2013 at a restaurant in Likas, near here.
In pleading for a lenient sentence, her counsel urged the court to give the accused a concurrent jail sentence taking into consideration that she is still young and still has a bright future.
The counsel also submitted that his client, who holds a certificate in accounting, is a first offender, and is currently unemployed.
In reply, deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Nazneen Zulkifli submitted that the accused had committed a serious offence, in this case she was an employee of a well-known company.
Ahmad Nazneen also submitted that the accused had knowledge of the company’s finances as at that time she was the assistant accountant.
The prosecution further argued that the accused’s action would affect the business community, plus these white collar crimes were rampant nowadays.
Ahmad Nazneen further submitted that the accused’s action showed that she had no doubts in committing the crime.
The prosecution added that the accused was cunning in taking advantage when there was minimum supervision from senior officers or her boss, and used her skills to create fake bank slips which had tarnished the name of the financial institution.
The court granted a stay of Ng’s execution with RM30,000 deposited and two local sureties pending disposal of her appeal to the High Court here and she was also ordered to report once a week at the nearest police station.
Apart from that, the court also ordered the prosecution to check with the Immigration Department whether the accused held any international passport or not.
The prosecution called 14 witnesses during the trial and the accused was the sole defence witness.