KUCHING: A Vietnamese woman has been fined a total of RM13,000, in default seven months’ imprisonment, by the Sessions Court and Magistrates’ Court here for offences related to prostitution and overstaying.
Nguyen Thi Sao Ly, 31, pleaded guilty to the charges before Judge Noorhisham Mohd Jaafar and Magistrate Ling Hui Chuan.
For the first charge, she was fined RM3,000, in default three months’ imprisonment. For the second charge, she was fined RM10,000, in default four months’ imprisonment.
The first offence was committed under Section 372B of the Penal Code for soliciting for the purpose of prostitution, which carries a penalty of up to one year’s imprisonment, a fine, or both upon conviction.
For the second charge, she was charged under Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 (Amendment 2001), punishable under Section 15(4) of the same Act, which provides for a fine of up to RM10,000, imprisonment of up to five years, or both.
The court ordered that her passport be returned and that she be referred to the Immigration Department upon completion of her sentence.
According to the facts of the case, the offences were committed on Feb 2 at a beauty spa near Jalan Airport, where she was found soliciting for prostitution while overstaying after the expiry of her social visit pass.
Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Sarawak Police Contingent conducted a raid at the premises following intelligence gathered through an undercover operation.
Police arrested Nguyen during the raid and seized items including a smartphone, a condom, wet and dry tissues, a towel and RM280 in cash.
Investigations revealed that she had overstayed in Malaysia for more than 30 days and had engaged in prostitution during her stay.
The prosecution was conducted by Adriana Maisarah Mohd Farid and Ahmad Fauzulutfi Suriani, while Nguyen was unrepresented.
