Cynthia D BagaKOTA KINABALU: A 33-year-old woman Datuk was sentenced to a staggering 120 years in prison for money laundering and receiving deposits illegally from the public. Her company was also not spared – it was fined RM2.575 million for the crime in the landmark decision.
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But Datuk Noor Ismahanum Mohd Ismail (pic), from Perak, would only get to serve five years in prison as the court ordered all the jail sentences to run concurrently (at the same time).The businesswoman who had pleaded guilty to 117 charges, including that preferred against her company, looked calm and relaxed as Sessions Court Judge Azreena Aziz handed down her punishment for each of the charges on Thursday.
Azreena ordered Ismahanum to serve:l Three years' jail each on the first and second counts of receiving deposits of about RM3.88 million from the public without a valid licence under Sub-Section 6(4) of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act (Bafia) 1989. The sentences would run concurrently.
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l Two years' jail on each of the 57 counts of money laundering in Kuala Lumpur under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act (Amla) involving RM6.25 million.The jail sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
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However, Ismahanum, was ordered to serve the jail terms for the Bafia and Amla cases consecutively, which means she only has to serve five years in prison.Meanwhile, Ismahanum's company, Worldwide Far East Berhad was fined: @ RM1 million for the Bafia offence committed between Dec 28, 2010 and Apr 23, 2012 at No 11B, 11th floor in Wisma Fok Loi, here.@ RM1.575 million for all the 57 counts framed under Amla.In these cases, Ismahanum received the illegal deposits through a scheme involving gold transactions at the Marina Court condominium along Jalan Tun Fuad Stephen between Dec 6 and Dec 28, 2010 and Dec 28, 2010 and Apr 23, 2012 at No 11B, 11th floor in Wisma Fok Loi, here.The offence under Section 25(1) of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 and punishable under Section 103(1)(a) of the same Act carries a fine of not more than RM10 million or up to 10 years' jail, or both, on conviction.Meanwhile, for the Amla cases, Ismahanum and the company had used money derived from illegal activities in a CIMB Bank Berhad account belonging to the company in Jalan Radin Tengah, Bandar Baru Sri Petaling in Kuala Lumpur between July 4, 2011 and Dec 31, 2012.The offence under Section 4(1)(a) of (Amla) Act 2001 provides for a fine of up to RM5 million, or a jail term of up to five years, or both, on conviction.Azreena after delivering her decision, fixed Nov. 6 for continuation of trial for Ismahanum's brother, Ismahanif and her company branch manager Yong Thain Vun, 34, who had claimed trial to the charge.Ismahanif is accused of having a Honda Civic car and is facing 59 counts of possessing money obtained through illegal activities while Yong is accused of abetting Ismahanum to receive the deposits between Nov 6, 2010 and April 23, 2012 at No 11B, 11th floor in Wisma Fok Loi, here.During the proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Nik Haslinie Hashim from the Anti Money Laundering Unit of the A-G's Department also applied to forfeit the properties that had been seized from Ismahanum.Nik said the properties involved were a bank account under CIMB, a car and a motorcycle.Counsel Zahir Shah who defended Ismahanum, her company and her brother said he had no objection to the application to forfeit the properties.
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Zahir together with counsel Edward Paul who represented Yong also informed the court that they would write representation letters to the DPP's office for Ismahanif and Yong's case.Bank Negara Prosecuting Officer Siti Nabilah Huda who appeared together with Fahmi Abd Moin was also present in court.