KUALA LUMPUR: To address the concerning rise in online financial fraud in the country, the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill 2024 was tabled for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat today.
The bill was presented by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
According to the blue book on the Parliament website, the bill seeks, among others, to amend the Penal Code (Act 574) to provide for offences related to payment instruments or accounts at financial institutions.
The bill includes provisions for offences and penalties for the possession or control of another person’s payment instrument or account at financial institutions without lawful authority or legitimate purpose.
According to the bill, the proposed new subsection 424C(2) aims to provide for offences and penalties for anyone involved in any transaction, using another person’s payment instrument or account at financial institutions without lawful authority or legitimate purpose.
Azalina also tabled the Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) Bill 2024 for its first reading, which, among other things, aims to empower police officers of a rank not lower than Sergeant to seize or prohibit transactions involving any money held or suspected to be held in any payment instrument or account at financial institutions.
