Dealer of luxury cars gets jail, 3 strokes, fined RM200k for fraud

KUALA LUMPUR: A businessman dealing in buying and selling luxury cars was sentenced to six years' jail, three strokes of the cane and fined RM200,000 by the Sessions Court today after being found guilty of cheating a businessman involving RM2.45 million, four years ago.
Judge Zulqarnain Hassan also ordered the accused, Ahmad Haniff Solhi Omar, 35, to serve his prison sentence from today and to serve an additional 18 months' jail if he failed to pay the fine.
In his judgment, Zulqarnain said his decision was a cue to any individual involved in the sale and purchase of luxury vehicles to be careful and not get involved in fraud.
"The decision was made based on the severity of the fraud case in buying and selling luxury vehicles. Up to October this year alone, 455 cases were reported involving a loss of RM15 million," he said.
However, the judge allowed the application by lawyer Mohd Farid Abdul Aziz, representing the accused, to stay the execution of the jail and whipping pending appeal.
The court also raised the bail amount from RM62,000 to RM72,000.
Ahmad Haniff Solhi, was charged with cheating Lokman Kamal Teh, 27, by deceiving him into believing that the transaction for the purchase of imported cars using the company name Panther Car Co (M) was true, prompting the victim to hand over RM2,450,000.
The accused committed the offence at Plaza Damas, Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, Brickfields in May 2012.
Deputy public prosecutor Kamarul Aris Kamalluddin prosecuted.
The court set Dec 14 to evaluate the compensation amount to be paid by the accused to the victim. — Bernama