SERIAN: A 47-year-old man was fined a total of RM7,000 by the Magistrates’ Court here Monday after pleading guilty to extortion and impersonating a public servant.
Cosmas Michael was ordered to pay a RM3,000 fine on the first charge, with a default sentence of 10 months’ imprisonment, and RM4,000 on the second, in default six months’ imprisonment.
The sentence was handed down by Magistrate Nursyaheeqa Nadzwa Radzali.
Cosmas was unrepresented while the prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Afiq Safly Nor Kazly.
On the first count, Cosmas was accused of intentionally putting a victim in fear in order to commit extortion, an offence under Section 385 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment, or a fine, or whipping, or any combination thereof.
On the second count, he stood charged with impersonating a public servant under Section 170 of the Penal Code, which provides for a jail term of up to two years, or a fine, or both.
According to the facts of the case, the incident occurred at about 5am on March 8 in the parking area in front of Bank Rakyat in Serian.
The victim was riding a motorcycle with a friend when they were stopped by Cosmas, who claimed to be an officer from the Road Transport Department (RTD), despite being dressed in plain clothes.
Cosmas then seized the victim’s Samsung A02 mobile phone and his friend’s Oppo A54 phone, and demanded RM300 in exchange for releasing the motorcycle.
He allegedly gave the victims one week to make payment and threatened to hand over the motorcycle to the police if they failed to comply.
Although the motorcycle was eventually returned, both mobile phones were not given back.
Following a police report, a team from the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) from Serian arrested Cosmas at his residence later the same day.
Police also recovered two mobile phones believed to belong to the victims, along with clothing worn during the incident and a Yamaha Lagenda 115 motorcycle used by Cosmas.
Investigations found that Cosmas had impersonated a RTD officer and carried out the extortion, with the victims and a witness positively identifying him.
