Land broker jailed for abetting in falsifying ownership titles
Rita Jong
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SHAH ALAM: A 49-year-old land broker was sentenced to three years' jail for abetting in falsifying two land titles.
P. Kanisamy, from Banting, pleaded guilty to committing the offences at the Selangor Land and Mines Office of the Selangor State Secretariat in July 2003.
He admitted to abetting another, who has already been charged (the name of the other accused was not stated in the charge) with falsifying two land titles by altering the details of registered landowners on the computerised land registration system.
Sessions Court judge M. Gunalan sentenced Kanisamy to 18 months' jail on each charge and ordered the jail terms to run consecutively from the date of his arrest on March 1 last year.
Kanisamy initially claimed trial to committing the offences but changed his plea after six prosecution witnesses testified.
According to the facts presented, Kanisamy, who is also known as "Johnny." often liaised with the land office and had befriended a staff from the department.
In July 2003, he sought assistance from his friend at the department to change the names of ownership on two land grants.
Subsequently, two grants number 28191 and 28192 were amended and an undisclosed fee was paid.
Following investigations, Kanisamy was found to have provided information on the land owners and the persons named on the new grants.
In mitigation, Kanisamy, who was unrepresented, pleaded for leniency.
He said he has been in remand since March 1 last year.
(Kanisamy was initially granted RM100,000 bail when he was first charged in February 2004. In March last year, Kanisamy was held in remand after his bailor no longer wanted to stand as surety).
"Since being remanded, I have contracted tuberculosis and lost 22kg," he said.
DPP Nik Suhaimi Nik Sulaiman pressed for a deterrent sentence.
He said as a result of Kanisamy's offence, the public had lost faith in the Land Office here.
Nik Suhaimi also informed the court that the accused had two previous convictions.
"He was sentenced to one day's jail and fined S$2,000 (RM4,400) or four months' jail in Singapore in 1983," he said. (Kanisamy did not pay the fine.)
"He was also sentenced to nine months' jail and fined RM3,000 or one year's jail at the Klang Sessions Court in 1984 and was placed under police supervision for a year." (The fine was also not paid.)
In 2004, it was reported that Mohd Afdzal Rashid, an administrative assistant (a contract worker) with the Selangor Land and Mines Office and Gan Kiat Bend, a land broker, were also charged with similar offences involving a loss of RM9 million.
Both cases are pending and the trial will resume Nov 17.
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