KOTA KINABALU: A 34-year-old man was acquitted and discharged by a Lahad Datu Magistrate’s Court in a cheating case involving a RM50,000 gold investment.
Hairunnizam Kamsin, who claimed trial, was cleared without his defence being called on the cheating charge under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
The accused was alleged to have deceived a complainant into paying RM50,000 as a deposit for a transaction involving 1kg of gold that allegedly did not exist.
In acquitting and discharging Hairunnizam, Lahad Datu Magistrate Nur Asyraf Zolhani said the accused had not been afforded a full opportunity to challenge the prosecution’s evidence in view of the death of a key prosecution witness who died before he could be fully cross-examined by the accused's defence lawyer.
During the trial involving six prosecution witnesses between Aug 7, 2024, and Nov 18, 2025, a key prosecution witness, Mohd Yassin Zaidin, died while still under cross-examination.
Defence lawyer Datuk Seri K. Rakhbir Singh argued that failing to complete the cross-examination of a key and material witness seriously denied the accused a fair trial.
He argued that the right to fully cross-examine a witness is fundamental in criminal law, requiring complete, not merely partial, cross-examination.
In the ruling, Magistrate Nur Asyraf accepted that the accused had not been afforded a full opportunity to challenge the Prosecution’s evidence and accordingly acquitted and discharged him.
The prosecution was led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohammed Shahril.
