Photo shows the Kuching Court Complex. — Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING (Oct 6): The Magistrates’ Court here today placed a senior citizen on a good behaviour bond totalling three years after she pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawfully possessing a total of RM105,000 in her bank account six years ago.
Magistrate Syarifah Fatimah Azura Wan Ali convicted Rohaya Mohd Akhirin, 61, from Selangor on three charges framed under Section 37(1) of the Minor Offences Ordinance Sarawak 1958, which carries a jail term of up to three months and a fine of up to RM500.
Rohaya was given a one-year good behaviour bond for each charge, with her son as the surety.
According to the first charge, Rohaya illicitly possessed RM25,000 in her bank account on Nov 21, 2016.
According to the second and third charges, she illicitly had in her account RM40,000 on both Nov 22 and Nov 24, 2016.
All the offences were committed at a house along Jalan Stutong Baru here.
Based on the facts of the case, the complainant became acquainted with a man purporting to be ‘Terry Chew’ from Canada on Facebook on Nov 21, 2016.
Although the complainant knew no personal information about Terry, they spoke and texted via WhatsApp.
The complainant had admitted to Terry that she was married with children, while Terry claimed to be divorced.
Between Nov 21 and 24, 2016, the complainant transferred a total of RM170,000 in five transactions to two bank accounts, one of which was under Rohaya’s name.
The complainant believed she was making the transactions to help release Terry, who claimed to be detained by Immigration officers in Kuala Lumpur for carrying more US dollars than permitted.
The complainant had borrowed money from her brother and daughter to help Terry, who promised to repay all the money through a bank in Canada when released.
Terry also ordered the complainant to pay RM15,000 to enable online payment access.
When ‘Terry’ presented multiple excuses on being unable to repay the load, the complainant finally realised she had been cheated.
Rohaya was arrested on Sept 13.
The investigation of the case revealed that three deposits amounting to RM105,000 had been made into Rohaya’s bank account.
Insp Mohd Adzmei Ahmad prosecuted the case while Rohaya was unrepresented by counsel.