GEORGE TOWN – Police will tomorrow charge a 62-year-old housewife for allegedly selling an infant by using Facebook in a landmark case involving cybercrime.
As the alleged sale transpired over the internet, police, together with the public prosecutor’s office, deemed that the suspect be charged under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Amla).
The section deals with the offence of money laundering.
She is expected to be charged over alleged illegal depositing and laundering of money, on the grounds that she allegedly sold the baby for RM12,000.
Upon conviction, the offender may be liable to a fine not exceeding RM5 million or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or both.
According to the interim facts of the case, which police shared here, the suspect accepted an infant from an Indonesian woman last December on the grounds that she will adopt the child as her own.
In the same month, she apparently posted on a Facebook page which catered to a group seeking to adopt a child.
During the chats and postings, she allegedly found a couple with whom she negotiated to sell the child.
On December 15 last year, the suspect allegedly sold the infant to a married couple from Terengganu in the lobby of the Cititel Hotel in Penang.
The age of the child is withheld by police.
The alleged transaction was worth RM12,000 in cash, according to police.
The woman then went on her way before police nabbed her months later.
More facts on the case will be produced in court tomorrow when the suspect is brought to face one count under Amla. – The Vibes, December 12, 2022
