KUALA LUMPUR: A widower who does odd jobs was jailed for 16 months by the Sessions Court here today for dishonestly concealing RM856,000 in share investments belonging to a businesswoman.
Judge Azrul Darus handed down the sentence on Fikri Zakaria, 38, to be served from today, after he pleaded guilty to the charge.
Fikri was charged with concealing the money belonging to the 31-year-old businesswoman by depositing it into his bank account at a house in Taman Kepong here, between Sept 16 and Oct 22, 2024.
The charge, under Section 424 of the Penal Code, provides imprisonment for up to five years or a fine or both, if convicted.
Based on the facts of the case, the woman received a message through the WhatsApp application from a woman known as SerenaTan who offered stock investment with a promise of lucrative profits.
Her name was included in a WhatsApp group and she was then instructed to upload a stock investment application.
On Serena Tan’s instruction, she then made 25 money transactions amounting to RM1.46 million between Sept 16 and Oct 22, 2024, into three Hong Leong bank accounts belonging to PCP Capital Trading, Perception Capital Group Solution and PCT Capital.
The businesswoman was promised profits that would be paid into the stock application account and she saw the amount of profit she accumulated in the application.
However, when she wanted to withdraw the profit, the transaction was rejected and she was asked to make additional payments. Suspecting that she had been cheated, she lodged a police report.
Following investigations, it was found that the accused’s bank account statement, in the name of Perception Capital Group Solution, confirmed that there was an inflow of the complainant’s money, dated Sept 18 Sept to Oct 11, 2024, involving RM856,000 made in 15 transactions.
During mitigation, Fikri, who has a child, told the court he had repented and promised not to repeat the mistake.
Deputy Public Prosecutor M. Saravanan appeared for the prosecution.
