Duo fined for harbouring illegals

Kota Kinabalu: Two men were fined a total of RM30,000 for allowing illegal immigrants to stay in their premises respectively.

Sessions Court Judge Azreena Aziz handed the sentence to Harun Abdul Rahman, 21, and Mohd Nor Jamirul, 58, who pleaded guilty separately to the charge against them on Wednesday.

Harun was ordered to pay RM5,000 or two months’ jail for each foreigners involved of which there were two foreigners.

He was found permitting the two Filipinas, age 21 and 24, to remain in the premises at Rasika Maju in Api-Api Centre at 3.07pm on Dec 12, 2019.

The court granted Harun’s application to pay the fine by instalments but he needed to pay RM5,000 on Wednesday and that the balance must be settled on or before Apr 26 this year.

Meanwhile, Mohd Nor was ordered to pay fine of RM5,000 in default two months’ jail for allowing four Filipinos aged 19 and 21, at 2pm on Sept 17, 2020 at the Beras Corporation Sdn Bhd in Sepanggar Bay, near here.

The total fine he must pay was RM20,000 but the court ordered him to pay RM10,000 only on Wednesday and that the balance must be paid on or before Apr 26 this year.

The duo was charged separately under Section 55E(1) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 which carries a jail term of up to a year, or a fine of between RM5,000 and RM30,000, or both, for each illegal immigrant involved.

During mitigation, they asked for leniency by saying that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, their income were not so good.

However, Prosecuting Officer Zaifee Zaimin of the Immigration Department urged the court to impose an adequate sentence as such case is very rampant nowadays.