Man jailed and fined for cheating

KOTA KINABALU: A man was jailed for 14 months and fined RM3,000, in default, one month’s jail by the Magistrate’s Court here yesterday for cheating.

Magistrate Cindy Mc Juce Balitus imposed the sentence on Marcus Liam, 57, after he changed his plea of not guilty to one of guilty under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

The indictment provides for a jail term of up to 10 years plus whipping and also liable to a fine upon conviction. Marcus cheated a man of RM3,000 at an eatery at Taman Canggih Commercial Centre in Jalan Tuaran here for processing a car for the victim which was auctioned by a vehicle company. In mitigation, the accused said that he has a 78-year-old mother to care for.

He also said that he was suffering from high-blood pressure, gastric and diabetes, and had saved the court’s time.

The facts of the case stated that the victim was intending to buy a van for his father and had made a price-check at a motor company together with his colleague.

The victim’s colleague then told the victim that he knew of another car dealer, and brought the victim to the vehicle company. Then, the victim was introduced to a man, namely Marcus who showed a van to the victim at the company.

Marcus and the victim met at an eatery where Marcus offered a low price for the van and told the victim to pay RM3,000 as deposit, and a receipt was issued. Later, Marcus went missing and was unable to be contacted after Marcus had received the money from the victim. The victim then lodged a police report.

Meanwhile, Marcus was also charged with five cheating charges and will stand trial on July 24 this year. On the first count, Marcus was alleged to have cheated a man of RM3,000, another two charges accused him of deceiving a woman of RM2,500 and RM2,350, while the two remaining charges accused him of cheating a man of RM2,000 and RM3,000.

The offences were committed at a coffee shop at Taman Canggih, at a bank in Inanam, in a restaurant at a shopping complex and at a bank here on two occasions respectively, between April and August, 2014.

Four of the charges stated that the accused had allegedly cheated all the victims of the respective amounts for the sales of cars and purchases and another charge stated that the cash was allegedly used for car repairs. The charges were framed under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

Prosecuting officer Inspector Lim Swee Beng Prosecuted.