Former teacher sentenced to seven years, eight months in jail
SIBU: A 52-year- old former teacher was sentenced to seven years and eight months in jail after he pleaded guilty in the Sessions Court here to two counts of cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.
The two charges against Febian Siges were framed under Section 420 of the Penal Code which carries an imprisonment term of between one year and 10 years and with whipping and shall also be liable to a fine.
Febian however will only be behind bars for four years as the court had ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
On the first charge, he had in October 2018 in Kapit deceived one Helen into believing that he would take her gold bracelet, two pairs of gold rings and two gold earrings to be blessed at a church in Kuching.
For the offence, the court sentenced him to three years and eight months in jail.
On the second charge, he had cheated 52-year- old Sedam on Aug 20, 2018 in Kapit by asking the latter to give him RM2,000 to pay the deposit for a house purchase.
The accused had told her that he would return the money to her.
For the offence, the court sentenced him to four years’ jail.
Mitigating before Deputy Registrar Stella Augustine Druce, the accused said he felt remorseful and that he had been teaching for 29 years and did not have any previous convictions.
He also told the court that his wife was not working and could not support the family. He also said one of his children is in university, and that he himself is a diabetic and has high cholesterol level, high blood pressure and a fractured spine L1.
“The jewelleries apart from the rings and earrings, were bought for the complainant. I really had intended to marry the complainant,” he told the court.
Deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Azri Zakaria told the court that there were hundreds of cheating cases reported in Malaysia.
He said this was not the first offence committed by the accused, though the prosecution could not provide any previous connection because most of his cases were just about to be heard starting yesterday.
Muhammad Azri urged the court not to believe the accused’s stories, claiming that the accused was a total ‘heartbreaker’.
He said that the accused had told the complainant that his wife had passed away due to cancer, but later told the court that his wife is still alive.
From the Sessions Court, the accused was later taken to a magistrate’s court to face 13 other charges under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
He pleaded guilty to all 13 charges and was sentenced to a total of 26 years in jail.He, however, is only required to stay in jail for three years since the sentences are to run concurrently.
Of the 13 charges, the lightest sentence given was 12 months’ jail while the heaviest was a 36 months’ jail. He committed the offences between Oct 22, 2018 and Jan 25, 2019 involving a total amount of RM6,810.
According to the charge sheet, he cheated seven people between Oct 22, 2018 and Jan 25, 2019 at various times and places.
He deceived his victims by telling them that he could help them get jobs in the public sector.