RM70,000 fine upheld for ‘fake’ dentist
MALACCA: The High Court here yesterday upheld the RM70,000 fine meted out by a lower court on vocational college student Nur Farahanis Ezatty Adli, 21, for operating a dental service without a licence.
Judge Datuk Ahmad Nasfy Yasin, in his judgment, said the decision by the sessions court was apt as the case had become viral on social media.
The court upheld the fine as a lesson to the offender and the public to respect the court’s decision, he said, adding that the court also took into account her future and that she was not working.
Ahmad Nasfy, however, dismissed an appeal by the prosecution for her to be sentenced to imprisonment as she had learned her lesson and promised to not repeat the mistake.
The sessions court, on Sept 29 last year, fined her RM70,000, in default six months’ jail, after she pleaded guilty to the offence.
Nur Farahanis Ezatty, from Alor Star, Kedah, was charged with operating a dental clinic at Bakti Homestay, Jalan Bukit Katil i n Malacca on Jan 25 last year.
She was charged under Section 4(1) of the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998, which provides a fine of not more than RM300,000, or imprisonment of up to six years, or both, upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor from the Health Ministry Fairuz Syuhada Amran prosecuted, while Nur Farahanis Ezatty was represented by l a wyer Hasl i d a Abu Ba k a r . – Bernama police investigations, at least RM800 million has flowed through such mule accounts, that have increased dramatically from 5,411 in 2015 to about 40,000 accounts in the last three years.
“We are rather anxious about these cybercrime numbers. The problem is in our daily banking process. It is easy to open bank accounts,” said Amar, who
expressed hope that bank authorities will be more cautious.
“The account holders could be anyone. They could be poor people in dire need of money, drug addicts or the actual scammers,” he said.
Such account holders or the fraudsters can face criminal action under Sections 411 and Section 414 of the Penal Code for dishonestly receiving stolen property and assisting in concealment of stolen property.
The offence of dishonestly receiving stolen property carries a penalty of up to three years in jail and a fine, while those who voluntarily assist in concealing or disposing of stolen property may be liable to imprisonment of up to seven years, a fine, or both.
On another matter, Amar said the CCID and its counterparts in Hong Kong and Singapore have busted a love scam syndicate following several raids.
Amar said police launched a series of raids simultaneously between Oct 19 and 21 after intelligence was shared, leading to the arrests of two Nigerians believed to be the masterminds of the syndicate, and 16 locals and a Chinese woman, all aged between 29 and 60.
“This is the first operation where we exchanged vital information about these scams and we launched the raids simultaneously in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.”
He said the masterminds needed locals to act as intermediaries to transfer the money to the operators’ accounts in foreign countries.
Amar added that the syndicate has been linked to 38 love scam cases involving losses of RM28 million here, while the Hong Kong based syndicate has been linked to 100 cases involving RM54 million in losses.
“The Singapore syndicate has been linked to eight cases involving RM1.35 million,” he said, adding that love scams were on the rise.
The modus operandi of such scammers is to first gain the trust of their victims, who are mostly women.
They would then claim a gift meant for the victim was stuck at the Customs Department or post office, and that a payment is needed for its release.
A bank account number, usually provided by an account mule, would be given to the victim to deposit the money, after which the scammer would no longer be reachable.