Woman loses RM19,000 to cyber lover

KUALA TERENGGANU: A 28-year-old woman who fell in love with a “cyber Casanova” lost RM19,000 after being duped into parting with her savings to help him start a business.

The woman had never met the stranger, purportedly from Ireland, and only corresponded with him via e-mail.

She had believed that the cyber love affair was genuine after he asked for her hand in marriage and pressed her to part with a sum amounting to thousands of ringgit, said to be for capital to set-up a textile business in Malaysia.

State commercial crime chief Supt Azmi Adam said the man had told the woman that he planned to have the business in the country to secure her future after they got married.

“The woman received an e-mail from the man on June 23 asking her to deposit the money into a bank account,” he said yesterday, adding the money was said to be for Customs clearance to enable textile materials to be brought into Malaysia.

Later, the man asked for more money, claiming that he had to pay a penalty of an equivalent of £7,000 (RM40,869) to the Irish authorities due to flaws in export documentation.

“The woman continued to deposit more money into the bank account, believing that the man really loved her and the business deal was genuine,” Supt Azmi said.

However, when the man keep pressing for more money, she realised it was a scam and lodged a police report at Jertih in Besut yesterday.

Supt Azmi said police traced the e-mail address and discovered that it originated from Nigeria. The woman had deposited the money into a local bank account.

Source: The Star Online

Sex sold at food court

FOREIGN women have been using food courts in Jalan Gelang, off Jalan Loke Yew, in Kuala Lumpur to solicit for sex.

A Sin Chew Daily special investigative team discovered that the women also walk the streets to look for potential customers.

The women bring their customers to nearby flats to have sex.

Each “session” costs customers between RM100 and RM150, regardless of the woman’s age, the daily reported.

According to a resident at the flat, the women begin their “business” from noon to 6am every day.

Most of the women seen during the day were middle-aged while the young ones appeared at night.

The resident alleged that a group of men, believed to be plainclothes policemen, would raid the streets several times a month and round up the foreigners.

“But the women always return after a few days,” he said.

Source: The Star Online

Look into the case, orders CJ

KUALA LUMPUR: The Chief Justice will direct the senior High Court judge to look into the case where a Sessions Court judge is planning to cane a youthful offender himself in the courtroom.

“I am asking the senior judge in the Kuala Lumpur High Court to look into it and take the appropriate action,” Tun Zaki Tun Azmi told The Star.

“We have to confirm what actually happened.”

Zaki said this when asked to comment on news reports yesterday of the “rotan” sentence imposed on Muhammad Syafiq Abd Wahab, 20, under Section 293(1)(c) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).

On Friday, Sessions Court judge Zainal Abidin Kamaruddin had ruled that he would cane Muhammad Syafiq in the presence of his parents in court on July 15.

The former sales promoter, who had pleaded guilty, falls within the definition of a youthful offender since he was 19 when he, and a friend still at large, committed the robbery armed with a knife on Nov 16 last year.

While Section 293(1)(c) allows the court to order a youthful male offender “to be whipped with not more than 10 strokes of a light cane or rattan within the court premises and in the presence, if he desires to be present, of the parent or guardian of that offender,” it is silent as to who should carry out the caning.

It is understood, however, that a magistrate had imposed and carried out such a sentence some 20 years ago and that it had been done by magistrates sitting in juvenile courts a long time ago.

“These days, it’s rarely imposed, but magistrates used to carry out such caning in their chambers in the presence of the two juvenile court advisers, the prosecuting officer and a parent,” said a former member of the Judicial and Legal Services.

Bar Council chairman Ragunath Kesavan said the council would write to the senior High Court judge tomorrow for a revision of the “rotan” sentence to be meted against Muham- mad Syafiq by the judge himself.

“The CPC provides for such a sentence but it’s a fundamental principle of the role of a judge in the criminal justice system that he cannot be both judge and executioner.”

In agreement, DAP chairman Karpal Singh and former UN Special Rapporteur for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Datuk Param Cumaraswamy urged the Chief Justice himself to intervene in this case.

“This also goes against international human rights laws,” said Param when contacted.

Karpal said that, although Section 288(4) of the CPC states that this type of “whipping” shall be inflicted by way of rattan, a judge implementing his own sentence would infringe the doctrine of separation of powers.

“A judge imposes a sentence. It is the executive which carries out that sentence.”

Karpal said a judge could not compromise his impartiality by “descending” to carry out a whipping sentence, adding it should instead be carried out by a court official designated for that purpose.

The Star Online

Judge to cane robber in court

KUALA LUMPUR: In a rare court ruling, a sales promoter who admitted to armed robbery was ordered to be caned 10 times in the court premises. And the judge himself will do the caning.

Sessions Court judge Zainal Abidin Kamarudin ordered Muhammad Syafiq Abd Wahab, 20, to be caned in the presence of his parents.

The judge said he would personally cane Muhammad Syafiq on July 15 using canes supplied by the court.

Zainal Abidin said 10 light canes (rotan) were to be used to carry out the sentence as provided for under the Criminal Procedure Code for youthful offenders.

He also ordered Muhammad Syafiq to carry out 200 hours of community service.

Turning to the parents, the judge told the father, pensioner Abd Wahab Jonit, 64, that the offence was rarely passed by court but urged him to accept it.

“I know it is not a nice feeling for a father to watch his son being caned but it has to be done by a judge,” he said.

Zainal Abidin then urged Muhammad Syafiq to seek forgiveness from his father.

The youth, though, merely stared at the judge.

Muhammad Syafiq admitted to robbing student Muhammad Fitri Muhammad Zamzuri, 16, of his identity card and cell phone while armed with a knife.

He committed the offence with another friend still at large near the football stadium in Cheras at 1.30am on Nov 16 last year.

According to the facts, two men on a motorcycle approached Fitri, who was with two friends and demanded they surrender their belongings to them.

Muhammad Syafiq, who was riding pillion, also asked if they had any drugs with them before slapping Fitri and kicking his friend on the face. He also pointed a knife at them.

Just then, four military and religious officers on an anti-vice operation came to the students’ aid and arrested Muhammad Syafiq.

Earlier, Zainal Abidin ticked off Muhammad Syafiq when he heard his confession, saying he had chosen bad friends.

Welfare officer Muhd Razmee Abdul Razak, who tendered a probation report for Muhammad Syafiq, recommended that the youth be given a community service sentence saying that 80% of those who went through such a sentence showed progress in their attitude.

Source: The Star Online