A 27-year-old petrol station cashier has been sentenced to eight months in jail and four strokes of the cane after admitting to using a customer’s MyKad details to claim Budi Madani diesel subsidies without permission.
Khairul Haizad Herman pleaded guilty to all four charges at the Magistrate’s Court after the charges were read separately before magistrate Nur Asyraf Zolhani.
Used customer’s MyKad details four times
Khairul was accused of misusing the MyKad identification number of a 48-year-old customer to make diesel purchases under the Budi Madani subsidy programme without the man’s knowledge or consent.
The transactions took place at Petronas Aman Jaya petrol station on Jalan Silam, Tawau, on four occasions, three times on July 26 and once on July 27.
The offences were allegedly committed at 7.14pm, 7.34pm and 8.30pm on July 26, followed by another transaction at 9.31pm on July 27.
Customer discovered RM99.78 worth of transactions
The case came to light after the customer, from Taman Semarak, Tawau, checked his Budi Madani subsidy account on July 30. He discovered that four diesel transactions totalling 43.01 litres had been made using his MyKad details, resulting in losses of RM99.78.
The man told police that he had never lost his MyKad and had no knowledge of the purchases, leading him to suspect that his identification details had been misused.
Police investigations later found that Khairul, who worked as a cashier at the petrol station, had used the customer’s MyKad number to carry out the transactions without his consent.
He was arrested at the petrol station on July 31.
Charged under penal code
Khairul was charged under Section 403 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum jail term of five years, whipping and a fine upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Shahril Mohaideen urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence, saying the case was believed to be the first of its kind in Sabah.
Khairul’s lawyer, however, appealed for a lighter sentence, telling the court that he was his family’s sole breadwinner and needed to care for his mother, who is undergoing cancer treatment.
After hearing both sides, the court sentenced him to eight months’ imprisonment and four strokes of the cane.
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