MD gets rotan and 6 years

Today, I read a new from Star Online with a title “MD gets rotan and 6 years”.

Following is the news: "MD gets rotan and six years"

KUALA LUMPUR: A logging company managing director was sentenced to six years’ jail and ordered to be given three strokes of the rotan after he was convicted of cheating and money laundering.

Ibrahim Salleh of Jalinkom Sdn Bhd was charged with using some of the ill-gotten money to finance a trip to Sabah, as downpayment for a BMW, to buy insurance, pay telephone bills and also house rent.

He used fake documents, including a commercial invoice to cheat Bangkok Bank Public Co Ltd through Maybank Bhd, for delivery of timber and gained US$1.2mil (RM3.8mil) from the fraud.

The offence was committed on April 25, 2005 at about 10.30am at Menara Maybank here.

Ibrahim was sentenced to three years’ jail and three strokes of the rotan for defrauding the bank.

He was also sentenced to three years’ jail on each of 50 counts of money laundering, with the sentences to run concurrently.

Ibrahim was charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code with 50 other charges of laundering amounting to RM3.6mil under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001.

Judge Rozana Ali Yusoff said Ibrahim had failed to raise a reasonable doubt on the prosecution’s case where 37 witnesses were called to testify.

She ordered the sentences for cheating and money laundering to run consecutively.

In mitigation, defence counsel Hermes Media Putra Ibrahim said his 46-year-old client was the sole breadwinner and currently undergoing treatment for a heart ailment.

The judge granted a stay of execution to allow the defence to file an appeal to the High Court.

Based on this case, the defence finally got the punishment on his guilty. Although we do not know the reasons that the defence to make a crime but the law does not consider the reason or status of the defence to make a suitable judgement to the case. It is a good performance of the law to guarantee us and maintain the balance between the law and the society. At the same time, a reliable law able to enhance our confident to the law.

Prepared by,
Fong Yok Yan (1071120015)