KUCHING: A 29-year-old man was fined RM10,000, in default one month’s imprisonment, by the Magistrates’ Court here on Wednesday (Aug 19) for indirectly facilitating a transaction linked to a loan scam.
Lawrance Sim Shun Khiong pleaded guilty to the charge before Magistrate Leona Dominic Mojiliu.
He was charged under Section 424C(1) of the Penal Code for indirectly, without lawful purpose, engaging in a transaction involving RM4,200 through his CIMB Bank account from a male complainant on Nov 6, 2024, at a building near Jalan Bako, Demak Laut.
Section 424C(1) of the Penal Code provides for imprisonment of between three and 10 years, or a fine of between RM10,000 and RM150,000, or both upon conviction.
The court heard that on Nov 1, 2024, at about 11am, the complainant was at his home when he came across a Facebook advertisement offering an Ambank loan.
Interested in obtaining a RM10,000 loan, the complainant contacted two individuals using the telephone numbers provided in the advertisement.
He was subsequently instructed to make several payments purportedly for loan processing before the money could be released.
The complainant then made six separate transfers totalling RM9,510 to several bank accounts between Nov 4 and Nov 6, 2024.
Among the transfers were RM310 to an account, RM3,000 and RM1,200 to Sim’s CIMB account, RM3,000 to another account and RM2,000 to another account.
The complainant later realised he had been duped after being asked to make a further payment of RM3,600 to allegedly increase his withdrawal limit.
He then lodged a police report, prompting an investigation.
Police investigations subsequently confirmed that Lawrance was the registered owner of the CIMB account used to receive the RM4,200.
The investigation found that he had indirectly, without lawful purpose, been involved in the two transactions involving money transferred from the complainant’s account into his own bank account.
Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Fauzulutfi Suriani appeared for the prosecution while Sim was unrepresented.
