KUANTAN: A man who tricked a Vietnamese national into giving him money to secure Malaysian citizenship and a MyKad by impersonating a Home Ministry official has been sentenced to 129 months in jail by the magistrate's court.
A. Faris Reppin, 55, was also sentenced to nine strokes of the rotan after pleading guilty in two separate courtrooms to nine counts of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
According to the facts of the case, Faris deceived the foreigner into transferring amounts between RM210 and RM800 to his Touch 'n Go e-wallet on 10 occasions between Dec 2 and Dec 19 at a supermarket along Jalan Teluk Sisek.
He managed to obtain RM4,160 before the foreigner suspected something was amiss and lodged a police report, leading to Faris's arrest on Dec 25.
For the first to sixth charges, Faris, a father of five, pleaded guilty before magistrate Raja Norshuzianna Shakila Raja Mamat.
National Legal Aid Foundation lawyer Mohamed Azahari Matiasin, representing Faris, pleaded for a minimum jail sentence, as his client was self-employed and had a family to support.
Deputy public prosecutor Noor Aishah Mohd Amin urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence, including caning, as the victim had not recovered his losses.
Raja Norshuzianna sentenced Faris to 12 to 17 months in jail, with the sentences to run concurrently from the date of his arrest, along with six strokes of the rotan.
In a separate courtroom, Faris pleaded guilty to three additional charges before magistrate Tengku Eliana Tuan Kamaruzaman.
In mitigation, Faris, who was unrepresented, pleaded for leniency, saying he had to support his elderly parents.
Deputy public prosecutor B. Deevagaran Naidu urged the court to impose a harsh sentence to serve as a lesson.
Tengku Eliana sentenced Faris to jail terms of between one year and 16 months from today and three strokes of the rotan. She ordered the sentences to run concurrently.