An ex-convict pleaded not guilty before a magistrates’ court here Friday to cheating a foreign woman using fake documents. Mohamad Zulkaria Mohamad Sebli, 35, from Kampung Pangkalan, Lutong, was charged on two offences under Section 420 and Section 468 of the Penal Code.
Section 420 carries a jail sentence of not more than a year and not exceeding 10 years and liable to whipping and fine.
Section 468 prescribes for a seven-year imprisonment and fine, upon conviction.
According to the facts of the case, the accused was found to have cheated an Indonesian woman by luring her to surrender her properties for the processing of applying for a Permanent Resident (PR).
Mohamad Zulkaria committed the first offence at 10am on a five-foot pathway near a bank at Jalan Parry here in July last year.
In the second case, he was found to have allegedly used fake documents which bore the letter head of National Registration Department, Malaysia, in Miri to make it appear original.
The accused committed this offence in October last year at the premises of the department concerned.
Prosecuting officer Inspector Mohd Khairi Mohd Noor applied before the court for a new date to settle the case and trial, taking into view the accused had pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
Khairi also proposed the accused be released on bail of RM5,000 in two local sureties.
However, Mohamad Zulkaria who was released from Miri Central Prison last year after serving a two-year jail sentence, requested before the court to lessen the bail to RM1,000.
The court fixed Feb 26 for the management of the case and March 18 for trial.
Finally, Mohamad Zulkaria was ordered to be released on bail of RM3,000 in two local sureties pending a new date for hearing.
Source: theborneopost
