KUCHING: A man, whose claim of being a human organ trafficker was found by police to be false, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to be caned six times for committing criminal breach of trust (CBT) today.
Sessions Court Judge Steve Ritikos meted out the sentence on Shaifullizan Abdul Mutalib, 48, after the accused pleaded guilty to three charges framed under Section 409 of the Penal Code.
The accused was sentenced to five years’ jail and two strokes of the cane on each charge, with the jail sentence to run concurrently from the first mention date of the case on Aug 27 this year.
According to the facts of the case, the complainant (Sarawak Insolvency Department director Zalina Yaakob), had lodged a police report against the accused on June 26, 2013, who was then serving as an assistant accountant with the department.
In her report, the complainant stated that she had been told by the department’s assistant director Latiff Mohamad that three suspicious payment transactions have been found based on financial reports from the National Audit Department.
The accused, whose address is at Taman Sukma, was charged with committing CBT involving RM97,623.31, RM85,000 and RM66,477.94 on April 4, 2012, June 22, 2012 and Nov 16, 2012 respectively, by issuing payment vouchers to several individuals who were unrelated to the department.
To issue the three payment vouchers, the accused deliberately used the eSPKB (Electronic Budget Control Planning System) card belonging to his subordinates.
Shaifullizan, who is currently unemployed, is understood to have been fired from his job since 2013 for failing to report for work.
In mitigation, the accused, pleaded for a concurrent jail sentence, saying he needed to care for his four children (aged between eight to 16 years) as his wife was suffering from kidney disease and lung problems.
Deputy public prosecutor Daniel Ilham Kamaruddin prosecuted while the accused was unrepresented.
