MIRI: A woman was sentenced to 30 months’ jail yesterday after pleading guilty to two counts of cheating involving government assistance schemes, including 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M).
Magistrate Zuraini Ali Musa handed down the sentence on Mereka Jimi, 59, from Nanga Dijih, Mukah under Section 420 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same Code, which carries between one and 10 years’ jail and whipping upon conviction.
For the first charge, the accused pleaded guilty to cheating a 56-year-old woman by telling the victim that she could help process her BR1M application, which led to the victim handing over RM1,800 to the accused as a security deposit.
The offence was committed with three others who are still at-large, at 8am on Oct 12, 2013 at Miri Pork Market.
For the second charge, Mereka pleaded guilty to cheating another woman by convincing she could help the victim apply for government assistance worth RM600. The victim had handed over RM8,000 to the accused while awaiting for the application to be processed.
The offence was committed together with three others still at-large at 10am on March 17, 2014 in front of a bank at Jalan Bendahara here.
The accused, who is currently serving a sentence in Sibu Central Prison for similar offences, pleaded the court for leniency.
The court sentenced her to 14 months’ jail for the first charge, and 16 months’ for the second charge, but spared her from being whipped.