Housewife to answer 11 charges involving RM1.5 mln

KUCHING: A housewife from here was yesterday charged with money laundering under the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2001 (AMLA).

This is believed to be the first case to have been brought to court in the State since the Act came into force in 2002.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Hazril Harun from Putrajaya handled the prosecution proceedings yesterday.

The accused, Sadiah Nahar, 48, claimed innocence before Judge Rhodzariah Bujang, who later released her on bail pending trial on March 3 next year.

The judge postponed the case because an alleged related cheating case involving Saadiah and her husband Mohd Arrifin Abdullah, 55, is still being heard at a magistrates’ court here.

Saadiah faces 11 money laundering charges.

It was alleged that she got involved in money laundering by using her account at a bank at Jalan Kulas here on 11 occasions between Jan and May 2003.

It was claimed that she used alleged ill-gotten gains in the tune of almost RM1.5 million to purchase some properties.

The offence which comes under Section 4 (1) of AMLA carries a maximum jail sentence of five years or RM5 million fine, upon conviction.

Saadiah was not represented.

In a related development, Saadiah and her husband were tried in the cheating case, an offence which comes under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

The court is now hearing their defence.

The couple allegedly cheated the Superintendent of Land and Survey in a scam involving the withdrawal of claims totalling almost RM1.5 million over eight lots of native customary land in Matang here.

The alleged fraud was committed at 3pm on Jan 17, 2003.

They allegedly misled the Superintendent of Land and Survey to approve land compensation to Saadiah purportedly based on a letter of withdrawal of claims dated Oct 22, 2002 signed by one Ros Udin and Penghulu Malhi Sadam.

It was also claimed that contents of the letter had not been verified.

In another related development on April 25 last year, an officer with the State Land and Survey Department, Mohd Alfian Bawi, 38, was discharged and acquitted from the cheating charge.

Magistrate Dayang Ellyn Narisa Abang Ahmad acquitted Alfian because the prosecution failed to establish deceptive intention, a vital element required under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

Cheating carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail and with whipping and fine, upon conviction.

Both Saadiah and Ariffin are on RM15,000 bail in two sureties each.

Money laundering cases had been brought to the courts in Peninsular Malaysia in the last several years, but for the State, yesterday’s was the first and thus it attracted a lot of media attention.

Meanwhile, the newly-appointed State Commercial Crime Department (CCD) head Supt Willey Richard was at the court yesterday to attend the case.

Willey said AMLA was aimed at freezing assets and monies suspected to be ill-gotten, apart from discouraging would-be fraudsters and preventing all sorts of scams.

He said assets of people charged under AMLA would be frozen until the disposal of the cases in the court.

AMLA also includes a provision involving anti-terrorism financing which was passed following the ‘Sept 11’ incident in New York, he pointed out.

“However there is no court case involving anti-terrorism financing in Sarawak,” he said in a jest.