Recycling Manager Fined RM30k Over Invoice Fraud To Import Plastic Waste

KUALA LUMPUR, July 11 (Bernama) -- A recycling company manager was fined RM30,000 by the Sessions Court today after pleading guilty to three charges of conspiring with his brother to use fake invoices to apply for Import Permits (AP) for plastic waste three years ago.

Judge Azura Alwi imposed the fine on 33-year-old Ch'ng Wilson and ordered a seven-month jail term if he fails to pay.

According to the charges, the father of two conspired with 26-year-old Ch'ng Wei Jie to use three fake invoices as supporting documents for AP applications through the Dagang Net system at the National Solid Waste Management Department in Putrajaya on Feb 7, 2022.

The charges were made under Section 109 of the Penal Code read with Sections 471 and 465, which carry a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both.

Case facts showed that Ch’ng helped another recycling company owned by a friend to apply for APs using fake invoices to import four containers of plastic waste from Canada, although the company was only approved to import plastic waste from the United States, Japan, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.

He instructed Wei Jie to submit the AP applications using the fake invoices under a trade owner registered in the name of their other sibling Ch'ng Huey Ning.

During sentencing, Wilson, unrepresented, appealed for a lighter fine, citing his monthly income of RM8,000, responsibility for two young children and that it was his first offence.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Hazel Tan Jia Qi urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence.

“If the court opts for a fine, I request a total fine of RM30,000 for all charges considering the accused’s guilty plea and the savings in time and costs for all parties,” she said.

-- BERNAMA