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SIBU: A magistrates’ court here yesterday sentenced a 48-year-old woman to a total of 13 years in prison and fines totalling RM65,000 for cheating a man she met on WeChat.
Normah Abdul Ghani pleaded guilty to 13 charges under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.
She was sentenced to one year in jail and fined RM5,000 for each charge. The sentences will run concurrently.
According to the facts of the case, in April 2014, a 38-year-old Sibu man came to know Normah through WeChat while he was in Papua New Guinea.
She asked him to be her business partner for a coffee shop in Perak, claiming she would manage business matters while he only needed to fund the venture.
When the man returned to Sibu, Normah asked him to go to Perak and marry her as well as operate the business together.
He then transferred a total of RM89,473 to a bank account belonging to a Farah 13 times between April 20, 2014 and Jan 15, 2015.
In May 2014, the man also sent Normah an RM1,800 handphone and an RM600 watch.
On Jan 24, 2015, the man tried to contact Normah but found her telephone number and WeChat account were inactive.
Feeling cheated, the man lodged a police report.
Based on the police report, on Feb 18, 2015 police arrested Farah, 25, in Perak around 9.30pm.
Later around 10.30pm, police arrested Normah at the Kampar police station.
Upon investigation, it was discovered that Normah received RM89,473 from the man through her daughter Farah’s account.