Kota Kinabalu: The Sessions Court fined fifty-seven Chinese nationals a total of RM558,000 on Friday after pleading guilty to immigration offences involving overstaying and entering the country without valid travel documents.
The 54 men and three women, aged between 25 and 48, pleaded guilty separately before Sessions Court Judge Hurman Hussain after the charges were interpreted in Mandarin.
The court fined 55 of them RM10,000 each, or six months' imprisonment in default, for overstaying between one and 35 days after their Social Visit Passes had expired, contrary to Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and punishable under Section 15(4) of the same Act.
The remaining two men were each fined RM4,000, or four months' imprisonment in default, after pleading guilty to entering the country without valid travel documents under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, having failed to produce identification documents during a police raid.
The court was told all 57 were detained during an operation at a unit in Sutera Avenue along Jalan Coastal Highway, Sembulan, on April 23, and ordered that, after payment of the fines or completion of any custodial sentence, they be referred to the Immigration Department for further action.
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