KUCHING: A 53-year-old man was fined RM800, in default one month imprisonment, by the Magistrate’s Court here today for possessing money reasonably suspected to have been unlawfully obtained.
Magistrate Leona Dominic Mojiliu imposed the fine on Ng Yen Hock, who pleaded guilty to the charge under Section 37(1) of the Minor Offences Ordinance (Sarawak) 1958, which carries a penalty of up to three months’ imprisonment and a fine of RM500.
According to the charge, Ng was found in possession of RM20,151.94 in his Maybank account at an office in Sri Stutong Commercial Centre, Jalan Setia Raja, on May 13, 2024.
He was unable to satisfactorily account for the source of the money, which was reasonably suspected to have been unlawfully obtained.
Facts of the case revealed that the 70-year-old complainant had become interested in a cryptocurrency investment scheme advertised on the Bybt Trading Platform website.
At about 1:15 pm on May 13, 2024, while at an office in Sri Stutong Commercial Centre, the complainant communicated with individuals through the platform’s online chat feature and was instructed to invest RM45,652 into a GX Bank account registered under the name Peter Claver Blace.
Believing the investment to be popular and potentially profitable, the complainant proceeded with the transaction.
The complainant was later instructed to click on a link to an application purportedly to facilitate the return of his investment funds. However, he declined to do so.
He subsequently realised that he had not received any returns or profits from the investment and lodged a police report for further action.
Investigations revealed that Ng was the owner of the Maybank account that received RM20,151.94 transferred from a first-layer account originating from the complainant’s funds on the same day.
Ng, who was arrested in Taiping, Perak, on June 7, 2026, claimed that he had provided his account information for transactions involving the sale of USDT (Tether) cryptocurrency and foreign exchange conversions.
He told investigators that he only became aware of the alleged misuse of his account after it was frozen by the bank.
However, investigations found that the money had been transferred into his account, and he failed to provide a reasonable explanation regarding the ownership of the funds.
The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor, Ahmad Fauzulutfi Suriani, while the accused was unrepresented.
