KUALA LUMPUR: A former gold shop supervisor who pawned three gold bars to trade in cryptocurrency was sentenced to 16 months' jail and three strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court on Friday (Sept 18) for criminal breach of trust.
He is also set to be sentenced on a separate criminal breach of trust charge over a pawned gold chain in another Sessions Court.
Judge Azrul Darus handed Koh Mun Hoe, 33, 16 months' jail and one stroke of the cane for each charge, ordering the sentences to run concurrently from Friday.
The charges state that Koh, entrusted with three 999 gold bars weighing 50 grammes and 100 grammes, all worth RM176,200, pawned them at a pawnshop for his personal use.
The offences took place at a gold shop in a shopping centre in Cheras between 10.42am and 1.36pm, from June 4 to June 8.
He was charged under Section 408 of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of between one and 14 years, along with caning and a fine, upon conviction.
Based on the facts of the case, the complainant, a human resources manager at the premises, inspected the safe's stock and found three gold bars missing.
CCTV footage showed the accused taking the items without the employer's consent, slipping them into a vest pocket and carrying them out of the premises.
Investigations also found that the accused pawned all three gold bars and used the money to trade in cryptocurrency through the Huobi app, a venture that ended in losses.
Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Zul Hilmi Latif sought a sentence befitting the offence to serve as a lesson.
Koh, who was unrepresented, pleaded for leniency, citing two children aged three and six, a recent divorce, and the need to care for his parents.
In a separate Sessions Court before Judge Dr Azrol Abdullah, Koh pleaded guilty to a fourth charge of criminal breach of trust for pawning a 999 gold chain weighing 80 grammes, valued at RM57,840.82.
The offence was allegedly committed at the same gold shop at 11.32am on June 12.
He was charged under Section 408 of the Penal Code, which carries a prison term of between one and 14 years, along with caning and a fine, upon conviction.
The court fixed Sept 22 for sentencing. – Bernama
