EX-SARAWAK WELFARE OFFICER SENTENCED TO 468 YEARS IN PRISON FOR MONEY LAUNDERING, CBT

KUCHING, April 9 (Bernama) -- A former assistant officer from the Sarawak Welfare Department was today sentenced to 468 years in prison and fined RM180 million, in default 36 months’ imprisonment, for money laundering and criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving over RM16 million.

Sessions Court judge Musli Ab Hamid imposed the sentence on Mohd Zairull Arzuan Mohd Shamsuddin Ja’afar @ Ang Chui Thong, 38, after he pleaded guilty to 36 charges of money laundering and three charges of CBT.

For the money laundering offences, Mohd Zairull was sentenced to 12 years in prison and a RM5 million fine for each count, with the sentences to run concurrently. Meanwhile, for the CBT charges, he received 12 years in prison and one stroke of the rotan for each charge, also to run concurrently.

The offences involved over RM6 million in money laundering between 2020 and 2022, and over RM10 million in CBT between 2019 and 2021.

For the money laundering offences he was charged under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, punishable under Section 4(1) of the same Act.

The CBT charges were framed under Section 409 of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of two to 20 years in prison with caning or fine upon conviction.

The prosecution was led by deputy public prosecutors Wan Nur Amanina Wan Din, Mohd Ashrof Kamarul, and Manjira Vasudevan, while Mohd Zairull was represented by counsel Christopher Bada.

--BERNAMA