Woman jailed for cheating, inducing dishonest delivery of property

SIBU: A 23-year-old woman who pleaded guilty to 31 charges of cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property was yesterday sentenced to six years and five months in jail by the magistrates’ court here.

The charges against Felicity Barnabas were framed under Section 420 of the Penal Code which provides for jail between a year to 10 years with whipping and a possible fine.

The total amount involved exceeded RM130,000.

Her three victims lodged their respective police reports in April and she was arrested on June 9.

A complainant, Chua Teng Ngee, 29, lodged a police report saying on Feb 27 at about 10am at a company, he met Felicity to buy a singlestorey house costing RM275,000 at Petanak Avenue, Oya/Mukah Road.

In the process of purchasing, Chua was asked to pay various fees including a five per cent deposit or RM15,000, of which RM1,500 was for lawyer fee and RM1,500 booking fee.

In March, when Chua was told his loan had been approved, he was asked to pay RM7,600 as renovation fee, RM11,800 for land insurance and land grant, RM800 for installation of electric meter, RM400 for water meter and RM250 as assessment rate. He was also asked to pay RM14,160 for a year of loan payment; RM5,000 for the land owner; RM9,500 as processing fee; and RM800 for Inland Revenue Board.

In April, he was contacted by someone who claimed to be from the Land and Survey Department who asked him to pay RM8,500. Chua lost about RM73,810. Another victim, Norlen Jamahari, 37, lodged a police report that in February 2014, at the same company she met Felicity to purchase a house in Mukah.