Man sentenced to good behaviour bond for illegally possessing RM4,995

KUCHING: A man from Johor has been sentenced to a one-year good behaviour bond with RM500 as surety, and his father serving as the guarantor by the Magistrates’ Court here for unlawfully possessing RM4,995 in his personal account.

Hariharan Manimaran, 23, pleaded guilty to charges under Section 37(1) of the Sarawak Minor Offenses Ordinance 1958, as read before Magistrate Syarifah Fatimah Azura Wan Ali.

The charges state that Hariharan received a transaction into his personal account from a 37-year-old female victim in Tabuan Desa around 2.29pm on July 28, 2021.

According to the case details, the female victim was lured by a job offer on Facebook, leading her to communicate with an individual online using the number 01121075298.

She clicked on a part-time job advertisement link and was offered a job buying and promoting Shopee products, with promises of commission payments for completed tasks.

As part of the scam, the complainant made a payment of RM4,995 to Hariharan’s personal account but did not receive the promised commission or a refund. Feeling deceived, she filed a police report, leading to Hariharan’s arrest.

During the investigation, Hariharan failed to provide a reasonable explanation for the funds transferred into his account, suggesting that he had rented out his personal account to others for receiving payments.

Prosecuting officer Inspector Nur Shafiqa Nyaie Ilin handled the case while Hariharan did not have legal representation.