MIRI: Four men were charged in the Miri Sessions Court yesterday for offences related to the tampering with electricity meters.
Boon Ah Khoon, 51, Boon Tze Jen, 49, Sim Lei Yean, 41 and Jong Min Siong 47, pleaded not guilty to all the charges before Judge Steve Ritikos.
The judge fixed November 1 for further mention of the case.
Sim is facing three charges. For the first charge under Section 33(3) of the Electricity Ordinance, he is accused of willfully tampering with the electricity meter, an offence that could endanger human lives or limbs or any other property.
If found guilty, he can be jailed for up to five years and fined. He was also charged under Section 33(7) of the same ordinance.
According to a brief facts of the case, Sim committed the first offence on August 27, 2018, at about 12.50pm at a residential house at Jalan Desa Bahagia.
He committed the second offence on August 27, 2018 at about 12.50pm at the same house at Jalan Desa Bahagia.
For the third charge of altering the electricity meter under Section 33(5), Sim together with Jong Min Siong committed the offence also on August 27, 2018 at about 12.50pm at a house at Jalan Desa Bahagia.
If found guilty under Section 33(5), they could be fined RM100,000 or jailed up to five years. Two other accused — Boon Ah Khoon and Boon Tze Jen — are also charged under Section 33(5) of the Electricity Ordinance.
Both of them committed the offence on October 4, 2018 at around 12.30pm at an unmarked two-storey semi-detached industrial building which purportedly housed a cold storage operation at Jalan Lutong-Kuala Baram, Senadin Enterprise Park.
Judge Ritikos set bail at RM1,000 to RM5,000 with one local surety for the accused while waiting for the further mention dates of the cases.
