Wire technician claims trial to deceiving company owner

JOHOR BARU: A 46-year-old wire technician was charged at the Sessions Court here for deceiving a company owner of RM800 last year.

The accused, Hong Yen How, pleaded not guilty after the charges were read to him in Mandarin by the court interpreter before Judge Ahmad Kamal Arifin Ismail on Tuesday (Dec 20).

According to the charge sheet, the accused allegedly cheated a company owner by claiming that his nine workers were blacklisted by a large-scale solar panel company based in Pahang and were not allowed to enter the site.

The accused was said to be well aware that the purported blacklist did not exist and persuaded the victim to pay RM800 as an inducement for him to help clear the names of the "affected" workers into his personal bank account.

The offence was committed at 2.38pm at a bank in Kelapa Sawit, Kulai, on May 25 last year.

The act is an offence under Section 417 of the Penal Code for cheating, which carries imprisonment for up to five years, a fine, or both, upon conviction.

The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Rifah Izzati Abdul Mutalif, while the accused was represented by Nur Farah Farhana Effendy Onn.

During the proceeding, Rifah Izzati suggested that bail be set at RM10,000.

Nur Farah Farhana, in mitigation, requested a lower bail at RM500, as the accused does not have a stable income and is taking care of his elderly parents, wife, and four children.

The court then set bail at RM5,000 with one surety and fixed Jan 11 for next mention.

The accused posted bail.