PENGERANG: A housewife was charged in the magistrate’s court here today with two counts of stealing a total of RM130,000 from her mother four months ago.
Norhasikin Abu Bakar, 31, was charged before magistrate Hidayatul Syuhada Shamsudin under Section 379 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum imprisonment of seven years, a fine, or both, if convicted.
She was accused of stealing RM100,000 using her 67-year-old mother’s Tabung Haji‘s THiJARI application for personal use at Felda Gugusan Adela, here, about 10am on Aug 21.
For the second charge, she was alleged to have stolen RM30,000 using her mother’s Bank Islam ATM card with the same intent at the Bank Islam Bandar Penawar branch, here, on the same time and day.
The accused, who was unrepresented, pleaded guilty to both charges before appealing for a lenient sentence, citing a lack of income, while her husband also had no fixed income.
The prosecuting officer, Inspector Nor Ayu Hidayah Mohd Safri, however, requested an appropriate sentence given that the RM130,000 loss was suffered by the accused’s own mother, and the money had yet to be recovered.
Hidayatul Syuhada imposed a fine of RM20,000 for the first charge and RM15,000 for the second, as well as two years’ imprisonment if the fines were not paid.
According to the charge sheet, the mother discovered that her daughter had used her THiJARI application without permission or her knowledge, transferring up to RM100,000 from her Tabung Haji account for personal purposes.
On the same day, the complainant also found that the accused had used her Bank Islam ATM card without authorisation, making three withdrawals totalling RM30,000.
The accused was arrested at the Kota Tinggi police headquarters at 4.30pm on Oct 26.
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