KUALA LUMPUR – Right after being freed by the sessions court here today of five charges of falsifying documents and cheating in a gold bar transaction, a former relationship manager of a bank was back in the same court facing 47 counts of cheating resulting in losses of RM3.1 million.
Mohd Saibulrijal Mohd Saad, 45, pleaded not guilty to all the new charges in front of judge Datin Sabariah Othman.
The 47 charges involve the accused allegedly cheating several bank officers off RM3.1 million at a bank in Bangsar here between March and June 2021.
He is charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code of cheating the bank officers in relation to, among others, withdrawal of funds, transferring funds and the purchase of gold bars, which is punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment, caning and fine, upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Rullizah Abdul Majid offered bail at RM180,000 with one surety for all the charges, taking into account the high losses incurred.
However, lawyer M.Hafiz Zainol Abidin, who represented the accused, appealed for a lesser sum on the basis that his client’s guarantor could not afford the bail set.
The court then set bail at RM100,000 with one surety for all the 47 charges and fixed August 24 for case mention.
Earlier, judge Sabariah had freed Saibulrijal of falsifying documents to cheat a woman in a gold bars transaction, saying the prosecution did not have a prima facie case against him.
“In this case, the cash and gold bars were never found in the possession of the accused at all material times.
“The prosecution also failed to submit solid evidence to prove the important elements, thereby failing to prove a prima facie case against the accused. Therefore, the accused is discharged and acquitted without being called to enter his defence,” said the judge.
Among the five charges, Saibulrijal had purportedly tricked a bank manager into believing that a client wanted to close his bank account containing RM411,442.17, by submitting a forged form supposedly signed by the client.
He also allegedly tricked the bank manager that the same client wanted to purchase gold bars amounting to RM376,110.72 and that he was waiting at a bank in Bangsar to pick up the gold bars.
The prosecution called nine witnesses to testify at the hearing which started on May 8, with deputy public prosecutor Ayuni Izzaty Sulaiman appearing for the prosecution, while lawyer Nor Asyikin Zakaria represented the accused. – Bernama, July 27, 2023
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