Trader, Lorry Driver Fined RM4,000 Each For Cheating

KANGAR, Dec 17 (Bernama) -- A trader and a lorry driver were each fined RM4,000, in default four months in jail, by the Sessions Court here today for cheating a woman involving RM800 in contributions, purportedly for villagers.

Judge Datuk Nu’aman Mahmud Zuhudi meted out the fine on trader Azizi Ahamad, 50, and the lorry driver, Syaharizul Sahar, 46, after the two men pleaded guilty to two counts of the charges each.

They were fined RM2,000, in default two months' jail, on each count.

Azizi and Syaharizul were jointly charged with cheating the 32-year-old woman into giving RM800 in donations for residents of Kampung Bakau in connection with a road upgrading project in the village, but the money was not handed over to the villagers.

They were charged under Section 417 of the Penal Code with committing the offence at 12.15 pm on Sept 3, 2004, and at 4.25 pm the following day ​in Kampung Bakau, here.

Based on the facts of the case, the woman went to the Kampung Bakau project site at about 12.15 pm on Sept 3, 2024, to meet Azizi and Syaharizul.

During the meeting, she handed over a work completion document for the Premix Upgrading Works on the Riverside Road in Kampung Bakau to Azizi, in his capacity as chairman of the Village Development and Security Council (MPKK), to obtain his signature for payment claims with the Perlis Government’s District Administration Division.

Syaharizul, acting on Azizi’s behalf, asked the woman for RM1,000, purportedly as a contribution to the villagers. The woman subsequently gave Azizi RM300, but Syaharizul told her that the amount was insufficient.

On Sept 4, 2024, the woman lodged a report at the Perlis Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office, which then tapped the woman’s conversation with  Azizi, during which he agreed to accept RM500.

The marked money was later handed to the woman’s husband to be passed over to Azizi.

At the time of his arrest, the marked money was found in Azizi’s right trouser pocket.

The prosecution was conducted by MACC Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Fariz Abdul Hamid and Perlis MACC Prosecuting Officer S. Sujatha, while both accused were represented by lawyers Syed Muhammad Anwar Syed Lokman Hakim and Nur Ayuni Ahmad.

-- BERNAMA