KUCHING: The Magistrate’s Court here fined an elderly woman RM300 in default three days in prison for illegally possessing RM8,700 in her personal bank account.
The money deposited into the personal account of Sepiah Mohamad, 66, is believed to have been used for online scam activities for the sale of non-existent imported dogs.
Sepiah pleaded guilty before Magistrate Mason Jaro Lenya Barayan to the charge under Section 37(1) of the Sarawak Minor Offences Ordinance.
She is alleged to have received two transfer transactions through a bank at Lorong Kai Joo on July 9.
According to the case facts, on July 7, at around 12.58 pm, a 27-year-old female complainant came across an imported dog sales advertisement by a person named Kim Weeh on Facebook.
The complainant reached out to the person at 011-11539152 as she was interested in buying a Pomeranian puppy priced at RM1,700.
Upon contacting the seller, the complainant was told to pay RM8,700 for the permit and health certificate, in which she complied and made two transfer transactions into an account in the name Sepiah.
After making the payment, the complainant was told to make another payment but she got suspicious of the transaction and filed a police report.
Investigations found that money was transferred online from the complainant’s account into Sepiah’s account on July 9.
Sepiah was not able to provide a reasonable excuse as to how the money amounting to RM8,700 could be in her personal account.
