Man pleads not guilty to selling fake hotel stay vouchers

SEREMBAN: A 56-year-old man pleaded not guilty at the Magistrate's Court here to eight charges of selling fake vouchers worth RM5,321 for accommodation at a five-star hotel in Port Dickson.

Mat Isa Mat Dali, who was charged separately before magistrates Norzaliza Tesmin and Mohd Firdaus Saleh, claimed trial to all charges.

He had allegedly cheated seven victims by asking them to deposit between RM360 and RM1,557 into his bank account for the hotel stay.

He allegedly committed the offences at several locations in Nilai between July 20 and Aug 16, 2020.

The accused was charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating which provides a jail term of between one and 10 years, whipping and a fine, upon conviction.

Mat Isa was also slapped with another charge of cheating one of the victims who had been blacklisted by a bank that he could get her name removed for a fee.

The woman, who was taken in by the offer, paid the suspect RM1,000 for this.

Mat Dali, who claimed trial to the charge, allegedly committed the offence on July 5, 2020, in Mantin near here.

He was charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

The court also slapped him with an alternative charge punishable under Section 417 of the Penal Code which provided a jail term of up to five years or a fine or both upon conviction.

The accused, who was represented by a lawyer from the Legal Aid Bureau, then asked the courts for a low bail as he had suffered from a stroke and that his wife, who also suffers from diabetes, was unemployed.

The courts then set bail at RM24,000 for all charges and fixed Feb 24 for next mention.

On Thursday (Feb 10), state commercial crimes investigation department chief Supt Aibee Ab Ghani said the suspect was detained by police in Ampang Jaya, Selangor last week.

He said checks showed that at least 14 reports had been lodged against him involving losses of more than RM25,000.

Supt Aibee also urged the public to exercise caution when offered hotel stay vouchers at extremely low prices as these may be fake.