A 28-year-old assistant manager in a finance and accounting department was sentenced to four years in prison and fined RM10,000 after admitting to misappropriating more than RM216,000 in company funds.
The woman appeared before the Bintulu Court today and pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 408 of the Penal Code for criminal breach of trust involving property entrusted to her.
According to the charge, she committed the offence between December 28, 2025 and May 29, 2026, while working at a shopping mall in Bintulu. She had been entrusted with handling cash collected from the mall’s food court but failed to deposit the money into the company’s bank account as required.
The total amount involved was RM216,139.80, comprising stall rental payments as well as income from beverage and dessert sales.
The accused had joined the company on January 1, 2023, as an assistant manager in its finance and accounting department. Among her responsibilities was collecting payments from food court operators and handling proceeds from beverage and dessert sales.
After the cash was collected and counted, it was supposed to be kept in a safe inside the company’s finance department office. The safe could only be opened by the accused, who was then responsible for depositing the money into the company’s bank account.
The missing funds came to light when the company’s accountant conducted an account reconciliation and discovered a discrepancy between the food court’s recorded revenue and the amount actually deposited into the company’s bank account.
An internal investigation subsequently found that the accused had admitted taking the company’s money for personal use. She had also offered to repay the amount at a rate of RM500 per month.
Further police investigations revealed that she had deposited some of the misappropriated funds into her personal bank account through cash deposit machines.
The money was allegedly used to settle online shopping debts, pay rent and hotel accommodation, purchase electrical appliances, buy flight tickets and cover daily food expenses.
The prosecution, led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Ho Keng Hao, said investigations also found that the accused had been facing financial difficulties due to medical expenses incurred while her late husband was undergoing treatment for kidney problems.
However, the prosecution stressed that her financial hardship could not justify the misuse of company funds.
The court subsequently sentenced her to four years’ imprisonment and a RM10,000 fine after she admitted to the offence.
