TAWAU: A former marketing manager at a palm oil company here was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and 26 strokes of the cane by the Magistrate Court here on Monday after being found guilty of 26 counts of cheating involving losses of more than RM6.2 million to the company.
Mok Chuang Leon, 38, was sentenced by Magistrate Don Stiwin Malanjum after the prosecution succeeded in proving the case beyond reasonable doubt at the end of the trial.
According to all 26 charges, the accused was charged with dishonestly cheating and deceiving a company clerk into handing over a total sum of RM6,212,266.84 by submitting false monthly palm oil fruit sales statements by Ample Agent and Sawit Borneo Sdn Bhd.
Mok, a single father to a 10-year-old son, was charged with committing the offences at a premises in the Perdana Square Commercial Centre, Mile 3 1/2 Jalan Apas, between February 2023 and February 2024.
The prosecution was conducted under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which carries a prison sentence of not less than one year and not more than 10 years, along with whipping and a fine, if convicted.
However, the court allowed a stay of execution and maintained bail at RM26,000 (RM1,000 for each charge) with two local sureties, while Mok was required to surrender his international passport to the court until the appeal is disposed of.
The stay was granted following an application by counsel Jhesseny P Kang, appearing on behalf of Chen Wen Jye, whilst the defence files an appeal at the High Court.
Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Wildan Firdaus Ahmad Fazly argued for an appropriate sentence to reflect the gravity and repetitive nature of the offences, which resulted in substantial financial losses to the company.
He said public interest must also be taken into account as the accused faced 26 charges of dishonestly inducing the company Usahawan Borneo Plantation Sdn Bhd (UB) to hand over RM6.2 million through false representations that Ample Agent and Sawit Borneo Sdn Bhd had supplied fresh oil palm fruit bunches to UB when, in fact, no such supplies were delivered.
The trial ran from Apr 21 2025 to Apr 27 2026, during which 24 prosecution witnesses and one defence witness were called to testify.
