KOTA KINABALU: A foreigner was jailed for 28 months by the Magistrate’s Court here yesterday for using a fake Malaysian identity card (MyKad).
Magistrate Cindy Mc Juce Balitus imposed the sentence on Mohd Matzwan Asraf Usman, 28, after he pleaded guilty to having the MyKad bearing the numbers 820102-12-6303 under the name of one Ruslan Basrin.
The unrepresented accused was caught committing the offence at the Jesselton Point Ferry Terminal here on June 9.
The offence was framed under Rule 25(1) (e) of the National Registration Regulations which carries a maximum jail of three years and a fine of up to RM20,000, upon conviction.
Prosecuting officer Inspector Isfandiar Dr Jasdi told the court that the accused was apprehended by the complainant, who is a senior officer from the Immigration Department, during a check for ferry passengers, who were about to depart to Labuan.
Further investigation revealed that the accused had used the fake MyKad and his real name is Mohd Matzwan Asraf Usman.
In pleading for a light sentence, the accused told the court that he had used the MyKad only for purpose of looking for jobs and he had never committed any crime or not even have any record of being detained in jail.
When asked by the magistrate where did he get the MyKad, the accused said that he bought the MyKad from an unknown person outside of the registration building in Tawau.
The magistrate further asked on how many people had bought the MyKad, the accused said he did not know.
The prosecution applied for a deterrent sentence to be given to the accused.
The accused was also ordered to be referred to the Immigration Department after serving his jail term for further action and the MyKad to be disposed of by the same department.
In a separate case, six men were convicted by the same court on separate charges of consuming syabu.
Five of them were sentenced to six months’ jail each while an accused was fined RM1,600, in default, six months in jail.
They had pleaded guilty to each of their charges under Section 15 (1) (a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which provides for a maximum fine of RM5,000 or a jail term of up to two years, upon conviction.
All the accused persons were also placed under police supervision for two years.