A man with 29 prior criminal records has been sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment and two strokes of the cane after misusing a lost debit card to purchase alcohol.
The accused, Ee Cha Seng, 39, who had only been released from prison two months ago for a drug-related offence, pleaded guilty to two charges before Magistrate Kartini Kasran.
According to the charges, the unemployed man dishonestly misused property belonging to a 30-year-old victim at a convenience store along Jalan Ali at 2.19pm and 2.20pm on April 27.
The offences were framed under Section 403 of the Penal Code, which provides for a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment, whipping and a fine for each charge.
Based on the facts of the case, the victim lodged a police report after receiving two bank notifications for unauthorised transactions amounting to RM30 and RM63.90.
The victim later realised his wallet was missing and suspected it had been dropped. While on the way to the police station, he received another alert indicating an attempted transaction at a fast food restaurant along Jalan Bakri, which failed due to insufficient funds.
The victim then went to the restaurant and spotted the accused attempting to use his debit card.
Further investigations, including CCTV footage from the convenience store, showed that the accused had used the victim’s card to purchase six cans of alcohol worth RM93.90.
The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Yasmin Md Piah, while the accused was represented by lawyer Tee Xin Ran from the National Legal Aid Foundation (YBGK).
The court ordered Ee to serve six months’ imprisonment and one stroke of the cane, along with a RM1,000 fine for each charge. However, after failing to pay the fines, he was sentenced to an additional two months’ imprisonment, bringing the total jail term to 12 months and two strokes of the cane.
