MELAKA: A restaurant worker has pleaded not guilty at the Magistrate’s Court in Ayer Keroh to impersonating a Bank Negara staff member to deceive her adoptive mother. Norhana Adam’s plea was recorded before magistrate Khairunnisak Hassni yesterday.
According to the charge sheet, the accused had allegedly deceived Latipah Abdul Rahman, 64, by impersonating as a Bank Negara staff member to request processing fees for loans purportedly undertaken by the accused.
It led the victim to make payments totalling RM39,450 through 19 transactions into the accused’s bank account.
The offence was committed at a residential unit in Kampung Alai here between Nov 16, 2020, and Feb 9, 2021. The charge was framed under Section 420 of the Penal Code and carries a jail term of up to 10 years, whipping and a fine, upon conviction.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Wardah Ishhar proposed a bail of RM20,000.
Norhana, 38, represented by lawyer Muhammad Izzuddin Ab Malek from the National Legal Aid Foundation, appealed for a lower amount. He said the accused was a divorcee, earning RM40 per day as a restaurant worker and supporting her elderly parents.
The court set bail of RM5,000 with one surety and fixed the next mention date on Aug 19.
On June 21, it was reported that the accused had claimed trial at the Ayer Keroh Sessions Court to a charge of cheating an elderly person, causing losses amounting to RM416,000 last year, while posing as an officer from Melaka’s National Anti-Drug Agency.
