Kota Kinabalu: A 65-year-old woman was charged in the Sessions Court here Friday with 59 counts of cheating involving RM550,800 over an investment in a housing project.
Unemployed Winis Juani pleaded not guilty before Judge Hurman Hussain to all the charges framed against her.
The charges stated that Winis had, on various dates between Sept 28, 2016 and Oct 18, 2021, at Maybank Jalan Perpaduan here and CIMB Bank at Bundusan Square, cheated Muniandy a/l Selvaraj by deceiving him into believing that she would obtain lucrative returns from investments in the SPNB Aspirasi Rakyat housing project.
She was accused of dishonestly inducing Muniandy to hand over various sums of money ranging from RM50 to RM20,000, totalling RM550,800, which he would not have handed over had he not been deceived.
The charges were framed under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which provides for a jail term of between one and 10 years, whipping and a fine on conviction.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Bryan Francis applied for a new mention date and proposed bail of RM3,000 for each charge.
Counsel Norshalilah Fauzan Mailin, representing Winis, applied for the same bail amount totalling RM28,800 previously granted by the Magistrate’s Court before the cases were transferred to the Sessions Court.
She added that the Magistrate’s Court had ordered the said bail to be returned to the accused.
Norshalilah also informed the court that Winis is 65, unemployed and divorced, and has four children aged between 41 and 45.
Hurman fixed Oct 16 for pre-trial case management and allowed Winis bail of RM30,000 in two sureties.
The court also ordered her to surrender her passport to the court and report to a police station once a month.
