IPOH: A 49-year-old labourer has pleaded guilty to 13 charges of cheating locals out of a total of about RM6,380.
Muhammad Halmi Ismail pleaded guilty to all charges at two separate Magistrate's Courtrooms here before Magistrates S. Punitha and Siti Nora Sharif on Wednesday (July 24).
According to the charges, Muhammad Halmi cheated his victims by offering to help them obtain e-Kasih aid, knowing that such services do not exist.
The accused committed the offences at various locations, including several banks, a shopping mall, a public market, a low-cost flat, a supermarket, and a hospital, between Jan 1 and June 23 this year.
It was reported on Tuesday (July 23) that the accused had cheated 38 people, mainly senior citizens, by posing as an "officer" who could help them get welfare aid.
He would ask his victims for between RM200 and RM900 as processing fees for their applications and to open bank accounts.
Magistrate Punitha ordered Muhammad Halmi to be jailed for two years and whipped 10 times, while Magistrate Siti Nora sentenced him to an additional two years' imprisonment and four strokes of the whip.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Nur Aqilah Syaza Ariffin, Nurhanisah Ismah Muhammad Husaini, and Nurul Hidayu Zakaria prosecuted, while the accused was represented by lawyer Robert Gnanarajan of the National Legal Aid Foundation.
