KUCHING: Three family members were each sentenced to 28 months’ imprisonment by the Magistrate’s Court here on Friday (Feb 27) after being found guilty of accepting RM447,240 in deposits without a valid licence seven years ago.
Magistrate Mason Jaro Lenya Barayan handed down the sentence on Zulkefli Rijan, 56, Mohammad Azmeer Zulkefli, 35, and Nurazlin Zulkefli, 30, after ruling that the prosecution had successfully established a prima facie case during the full case trial.
They were convicted on six charges under Section 137(1) of the Financial Services Act 2013, punishable under Section 137(2) of the same Act, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code.
The offence carries a penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment or a fine up to RM50 million, or both, upon conviction.
Based on the charges, the trio jointly accepted deposits totalling RM447,240 from a 54-year-old contractor without a valid licence under Section 10 of the Financial Services Act 2013 (Act 758).
The deposits were received at a bank in Padungan on Aug 1, 14 and 18, 2018, as well as on Feb 8, Mar 5 and May 15, 2019.
During the mitigation, defence counsel Simon Siah, representing all three accused, applied for a stay of execution pending an appeal to the High Court.
The court allowed the application and granted a stay of execution with an additional bail of RM6,000 each to the three accused.
Earlier, they had been released on cash bail of RM3,500 and RM5,000 without deposit.
A total of seven prosecution witnesses testified during the trial.
According to the facts of the case, on Aug 1, 2018, at about 8 pm at the Mtrade Royal office, the complainant invested in the company by issuing a cheque into the company’s account through an acquaintance known as Augustine, who was the company’s finance director.
The complainant was later persuaded to increase his investment with a promise of RM1 million in returns.
Despite making several transactions, he did not receive any payment as promised, prompting him to lodge a police report.
Investigations led to the arrest of the three family members.
Meanwhile, another accused, Wan Ala Wan Bujang, 61, is still at large and remains wanted by the police.
The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutors, Asymawi Ghazali, Asmawi Nur Haqim Mokhtar and Muhammad Aidil Akmal Sharidan.
