MP’s ex-aide charged with cheating
JOHOR BARU: A former private secretary of a PKR lawmaker has been hauled to a Magistrate’s Court here to face seven cheating charges involving RM40,000.
S. Saswin Nair, 27, pleaded not guilty yesterday to all the charges relating to the purchase of Rumah Mampu Biaya Johor (RMBJ), jewellery and “Back to School” vouchers with a total value of RM39,450.
In the first to the fourth charges, the accused is alleged to have deceived three men by offering RMBJ houses at Taman Daya here, which led to the victims handing over RM9,150, RM7,000 and RM8,000 respectively as deposit payments.
The offence allegedly took place at Taman Nusa Jaya in Iskandar Puteri, Bandar Seri Alam and Taman Setia Tropika between Nov 22 and Dec 25 last year.
For the fifth charge, Saswin Nair is alleged to have deceived a man into paying RM15,000 as deposit for a piece of gold jewellery at a gold shop in Jalan Wong Ah Fook here on July 27 this year.
He was charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum imprisonment of not more than 10 years, whipping and a fine upon conviction.
In the sixth and seventh charges, Saswin Nair is alleged to have cheated two men into believing that Tebrau MP Steven Choong had issued “Back To School” vouchers supposedly worth RM150.
He allegedly committed the offence at the Tebrau parliamentary service centre at the end of December last year and was charged under Section 417 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum imprisonment of five years, a fine or both upon conviction.
Magistrate Haffiza Jemali set bail at RM14,000 for all seven charges with two sureties.
She also set Oct 23 for case management.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Chan Choon Yew and Adilah Nur Yahya prosecuted the case while lawyer Iskandar Shah Ibrahim represented the accused.
Saswin Nair posted bail.