IPOH, July 24 — The Magistrate’s Court in Ipoh has sentenced a labourer to 21 years in jail and 14 strokes of the rotan after he was found guilty of 13 charges for swindling elderly people by offering eKasih services from January to June this year.
Muhammad Halmi Ismail, 49, pleaded guilty to all the charges framed under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which provides for a jail sentence of 10 years and rotan and can also be fined if convicted, in separate proceedings.
However, after both magistrates set the sentence to be carried out concurrently from the date of the trial, the accused only needs to serve four years in prison and undergo 14 strokes of the rotan.
In the first trial before Magistrate Siti Nora Sharif, Halmi pleaded guilty to four charges of swindling four senior citizens, aged between 65 and 76, by posing as an officer to offer a non-existent eKasih assistance.
According to the charges, the accused convinced his victims to pay between RM450 and RM800 for the process of applying for eKasih assistance while the offences were carried out at banks in the Kinta district between 12pm to 2pm from January 23 to April 22.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Nur Aqilah Syaza Ariffin and Nuranisah Ismah Muhammad Husaini led the prosecution, while Halmi was represented by lawyers Robert Gnanarajan and M. Kathan from the National Legal Aid Foundation.
Meanwhile, in a separate Magistrate’s Court, Halmi pleaded guilty to nine charges of cheating nine individuals, aged between 60 and 77, by using the same modus operandi and urging his victims to pay between RM200 to RM900.
All the offences were said to have taken place in the Kinta district from 10.30am to 3.45pm between January 1 to June 23.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurul Hidayu Zakaria led the prosecution, while the accused was represented by Dayang Nor Emilia Azman Shah and Kathan from the National Legal Aid Foundation.
Yesterday, Perak police chief Datuk Azizi Mat Aris said a 49-year-old suspect was detained for posing as an eKasih aid officer to swindle over 30 elderly people in Perak of RM16,250 since January and would be standing trial for the offences.
The police managed to arrest the suspect at the Kota Setar police headquarters in Kedah on July 2 after receiving 38 reports about the trail of deception.
— Bernama
