KOTA TINGGI: A Pengerang Integrated Complex contract supervisor, who sought public donations by claiming that he lost family members to Covid-19, was slapped with a total of four years’ jail, a RM16,000 fine and two strokes of the rotan.
Mohd Zahazan Zainon, 45, pleaded guilty in a Magistrate’s Court here to two counts of cheating two women of RM8,357 in total yesterday.
In the first charge, he was accused of cheating a 34-year-old woman. He had convinced her into believing that his family members had died of Covid-19 which led her to transferring RM7,857 into his bank account at the Pengerang Integrated Complex security unit office here between 5.20pm and 9.25pm on Sept 3.
In the second charge, he was accused of asking a 38-year-old woman for a donation giving a similar tale at around 6.34pm on Sept 3. She gave him RM500.
Mohd Zahazan committed both offences under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which carries a punishment of at least one year in jail and not more than 10 years’ imprisonment, caning and a fine upon conviction.
He was represented by lawyer Nurul Hidayah Mohd Asri, who pleaded for a lighter sentence citing that he has to care for four children from his previous marriage.
In mitigation, she said he has to bear the expenses of RM300 for each of his children on top of the RM960 in religious school (tahfiz) fees for two of them.
Tall tales cut short: Mohd Zahazan has been sentenced to a total of four years’ imprisonment, RM16,000 fine and two strokes of the rotan by the Magistrate’s Court in Kota Tinggi for using sob stories to acquire donations. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
Deputy public porosecutor Nursyamim Fateha Mohd Amin said the case was of public interest and a heavy punishment should be meted out as a lesson to the accused.
“He took advantage of the public’s sympathy for his own interest during a time when Covid-19 has caused many to lose their lives.
“Because of this, the people in the community and his workplace could become sceptical of any news of Covid-19-related deaths.
“The pandemic could also have affected the incomes of the victims yet they still made a donation to the accused,” she said.
Magistrate Nurmadiana Mamat ordered Mohd Zahazan to serve a jail term of three years, a fine of RM15,000, in default five months’ jail, and a stroke of the cane for the first offence.
For the second offence, he was sentenced to a year in prison, a fine of RM1,000, in default one month jail, and a stroke of the cane.
The jail terms would run concurrently starting from the date of arrest on Sept 4.
“I hope this serves as an example and a lesson to the accused as well as for the public,” she said.
It was reported that Mohd Zahazan was arrested for cheating Malaysians out of donations totalling RM91,000 with a sob story about him losing 14 family members, including his wife and children, to Covid-19.