Kota Kinabalu: A 48-year-old man was fined RM5,000 or four months’ jail, Tuesday, for cheating a woman of RM2,500 over automatic gate installation, two years ago.
Unemployed Djohan Shah Abd Rahman pleaded guilty before Magistrate Wan Farrah Farriza Wan Ghazali to deceiving one Epi Rustan into handing over RM2,500 for the installation of a steel auto gate on Oct 14, 2023, at a house in Taman Rimba, Manggatal.
The charge, under Section 417 of the Penal Code, carries a jail term of up to five years or fine, or both, on conviction.
The court heard from the prosecution that the complainant had been in contact with Djohan, a so-called contractor, who had advertised the installation of a steel auto gate on Facebook.
The complainant reached out to him via WhatsApp. Djohan subsequently visited the complainant’s house to take measurements for the installation of the auto gate.
He informed the complainant that the total cost would be RM3,000 and instructed her to make a deposit payment of RM2,500 into his Maybank account.
Djohan also promised that the steel auto gate would be installed within four to five days.
However, no installation work was carried out after the money was transferred into Djohan’s account, said the prosecution, adding that the accused confessed to using the RM2,500 for personal purposes.
Duty counsel Lim Ming Zoong @ Lawrence representing Djohan requested a lenient sentence by saying that he is currently unemployed and has five children.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Haikal Hazwan Md Yatin urged for a deterrent sentence due to the rampancy of the offence.
In another case, a 34-year-old man was charged with misappropriation of property, last year.
Mohd Nasrudin pleaded not guilty to the charge of misappropriating RM1,805.10 belonging to one Chan Yu Hui, while working as a sales executive at the PTPTN Kota Kinabalu branch.
The offence allegedly took place at 11.52am, on Oct 25, 2024, on the fourth floor of Menara UTC Sabah, here.
The charge is framed under Section 403 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of up between six months and five years and with whipping and liability of a fine on conviction. Deputy Public Prosecutor Yuvan Bharathan applied for a pre-trial case management (PTCM) and proposed bail at RM6,000 in two sureties.
Duty Counsel Jagnesh Jaya, representing Nasrudin, requested for a lower bail amount citing that he is currently unemployed and married with one child.
Wan Farrah set March 28 for PTCM and offered the accused bail of RM3,000 in two sureties.
