Unemployed woman jailed for dishonest misappropriation of investment fund

KUALA LUMPUR: A woman was sentenced to a total of 14 months’ jail by the Ampang Magistrate’s Court here yesterday on two counts of dishonest misappropriation of funds for investment in foreign exchange, involving nearly RM20,000 in June last year.

Magistrate Mohamad Firdaus Sadina Ali handed down the sentence on Umiradiah Zainal, 32, who is unemployed, after the woman pleaded guilty to the charges.

She was sentenced to seven years’ jail on each count, to be served concurrently from the date of arrest, which was Nov 8 last year.

Onthefirstcount,shewascharged with dishonestly misappropriating RM4,950 belonging to a technician, Mohamad Fadhil Mohamad Nor, 26, which was deposited into her bank account for forex investment with promise of lucrative returns.

Umiradiah was also charged with deceiving Mohamad Fadhil into handing over RM15,000, which was also deposited into her bank account, for the same purpose.

Both the offences were committed on June 11 and 12 last year at a house at Jalan 10, Lembah Jaya Selatan, Ampang, here.

The charges were made under Section 403 of the Penal Code, which provides an imprisonment for up to five years and whipping, as well as fine, upon conviction.

In mitigation, Umiradiah, who was unrepresented, said she had paid back half of the amount to the victim.

Deputy public prosecutor Nor Hashimah Hashim prosecuted.

According to the facts of the case, Mohamad Fadhil was keen to invest in a forex investment scheme through a Facebook account ‘Rania Irise’ which promised lucrative returns, and deposited a total of RM21,000 into Umiradiah’s bank account to participate in three packages that were offered.

However, Mohamad Fadhil only receive RM4,000 from his investments and the woman then went missing. — Bernama