Kota Kinabalu: A 52-year-old woman from Johor, who fraudulently had RM73,064 in her bank account last year, was fined RM100 or one-day jail by the Magistrate’s Court.
Hasnah Talib pleaded guilty before Magistrate Jessica Ombou Kakayun to having the money, belonging to a 43-year-old woman in her (Hasnah) bank account. The former failed to give a satisfactory explanation on how she obtained them on Oct 14, 2021 here.
Hasnah had committed an offence under Section 22A (1) of the Minor Offences Ordinance, which provides a fine of up to RM100 or up to three months’ jail, or both, on conviction.
Earlier, the court was informed by the prosecution that the complainant got to know a man named Wang Li, who claimed to be from France, through Facebook early 2021.
Later in their conversation Wang Li told the complainant that he sent a parcel as a gift for her.
On Oct 10 last year, the complainant received a call from a freight forwarding agent asking her to pay taxes as the said parcel contained cash money and valuable documents, the court heard.
The complainant then transferred money from her bank account amounting to RM49,287 to a Maybank account and another RM73,064 to a CIMB bank account under Hasnah’s name, said the prosecution. The complainant felt cheated when the promised package did not arrive and was even asked to make an additional payment.
She later lodged a police report for further action, the court heard.
Police investigations revealed that Hasnah, who was arrested by police in Tangkak, Johor on May 26 this year, claimed to not know about the money being deposited into her bank account.
Hasnah confessed that she lost her ATM card for the said account and that she did not know about the deposit of RM73,064 into her account, said the prosecution.
Unrepresented, Hasnah requested for a lenient sentence, saying that she came from Tangkak, Johor, and flew all the way to face the charge here and that it was her visit here.
Inspector Albert Basiri prosecuted before Magistrate Jessica Ombou Kakayun.
