Shopowner, caretaker fined over contraband alcoholic drinks

KOTA KINABALU: An owner and a caretaker of two shops here were slapped with hefty fines by the Magistrate’s Court here yesterday for separate charges of keeping prohibited items comprising various types of alcoholic drinks worth hundreds of ringgit.

In the first case, Magistrate Cindy Mc Juce Balitus imposed a RM19,408.80 fine, in default, 12 months’ jail on Tay Ling who pleaded guilty to keeping the items at her coffee shop at Kampung Air here on September 6.

The magistrate fined the 58year-old unrepresented accused with 20 times the amount of the drinks, which was RM970.44.

In the second case, Ee Kim Hua, 45, who appeared before Magistrate Jessica Ombou Kakayun, was fined RM12,074.40, in default, six months’ imprisonment after he admitted to having the items at a cafe at Kampung Air here on the same day.

The undefended accused was fined 15 times the worth of the drinks, which was RM804.96.

Both the accused persons were convicted under Section 135 (1) (d) of the Customs Act 1967.

The facts of the cases stated that during the raids at the two shops, enforcement from the Customs Department seized those items and investigations revealed that some of the drinks did not have the Customs duty stamps while the accused persons also failed to produce any valid payment or duty paid documents.

Customs Department prosecuting officers Zuraynee Ahmad Zaidi and Janet Linggu prosecuted.