KOTA KINABALU: A foreigner was jailed for 10 months for possessing a fake MyKad.
Magistrate Norhamizah Shaiffuddin also ordered 25-year-old Markos Kroweleyn Laurensius Regi to be referred to the Immigration Department after the latter pleaded guilty to the offence.
The accused was detained in front of the KIA Motor building in Jalan Bundusan, Penampang, around 3.20am on December 28, last year for having a MyKad with the name Mohd Zain Mustari, bearing the numbers 850530-12-5435.
The offence, framed under Section 25(1)(e) of the National Registration Regulation, carries a maximum fine of RM20,000 or a prison term not exceeding three years, upon conviction.
Based on the facts of the case, Markos, who was riding a motorcycle was stopped at a police roadblock.
Markos gave officers his MyKad, and later after questioning, told police that it was a fake.
Several days after his detention, his mother delivered a birth certificate stating his real name.
It was gathered from investigations and questioning that Markos had purchased the MyKad from a man in Kota Kinabalu for RM1,100 four months ago.
The National Registration Department confirmed that the numbers on the MyKad belonged to a real person, but the card itself was a fake.
In mitigation, Markos asked for leniency, but prosecuting officer Inspector Syahrin Ali urged the court to mete out a deterrent sentence.
Meanwhile, the same court also fined two men RM2,000, in default, four months’ imprisonment each for drug consumption.
Lapi Soungim, a 26-year-old labourer, pleaded guilty to consuming amphetamine and methamphetamine on November 8, last year.
Nassir Hassan, 38, who is a restaurant worker, also pleaded guilty to consuming methamphetamine on September 18, the previous year.
Their offences, framed under Section 15 of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, are punishable with a maximum fine of RM5,000 or a jail term no longer than two years.