Kota Kinabalu: A 34-year-old labourer was jailed four years Tuesday for committing online financial fraud by transferring RM10,000 from his sister-in-law’s bank account without her permission into his mother’s account.
Sylvester AK Drem pleaded guilty before Sessions Court Judge Amir Shah Amir Hassan to have been directly involved in transferring RM10,000 from Tinura Janor’s BSN account without valid reason to a Maybank Islamic Berhad account under the name of Geney Linus.
The offence was committed on Nov 20, 20224, at 11.26am, at the BSN, Jalan Hone in Tuaran.
The charge under Section 424C(2) of the Penal Code carries a jail term of between three and 10 years or with a fine of between RM10,000 and RM150,000 or both, on conviction.
The prosecution informed the court that the complainant, Tinura, on Nov 29, 2024, at 3pm visited the Tuaran branch of Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) to withdraw money, only to discover that RM10,000 was missing from her savings account.
Upon checking, she found that the amount had been transferred out without her knowledge.
Suspicious, Tinura reviewed her recent transactions and noted that on Nov 20, the same year, she had asked Sylvester, who was her sister-in-law’s husband, to help her withdraw RM200.
He later returned the cash and her ATM card.
However, records showed that on the same day, a separate transfer of RM10,000 had been made from her BSN account to a Maybank account belonging to Sylvester’s mother.
When the complainant contacted Sylvester, he admitted to the transfer and promised to return the money.
However, by the time she lodged the police report, Sylvester could no longer be reached.
Sylvester was later arrested by officers from the Tuaran Commercial Crime Investigation Division.
Investigations confirmed that the RM10,000 was transferred at 11.26 am, on Nob 20, 2024, via the ATM at BSN Tuaran.
CCTV footage that day showed a man in a blue shirt making the transaction.
The complainant identified the individual in the footage as Sylvester.
Sylvester admitted to having his mother’s Maybank ATM card, a claim also confirmed by his mother.
In delivering the sentence, Amir Shah said the court had taken into account the public interest as submitted by the prosecution, the victim’s interest, as well as the provisions of the new section, which came into force on Oct 30, 2024 and noted that Sylvester had committed the offence just a month after the Section was gazetted.
The court also concurred with the prosecution that, despite the new legal provisions, the aim is to curb such activities, as previously, only Section 22A of the Minor Offences Ordinance was applicable, a provision with penalties deemed inadequate given the frequency of such cases.
He added that he was informed it was the first case of its kind in Sabah under the new Section and hoped that more cases would be filed in the future to help curb similar offences.
Unrepresented, Sylvester requested a lower fine citing that he is married and has children. He also admitted to the court that he had spent all the money.
The prosecution applied for a deterrent sentence to serve as a lesson not only to Sylvester but also to the society at large.
The court ordered Sylvester to serve the jail sentence from the date of his arrest on May 16, this year.
