KUALA LUMPUR: Another bogus dentist was sentenced to one month jail and fined RM70,000 in default of six months imprisonment by the Sessions Court for running unlicenced dental service at a budget hotel here last month.
Judge Harmi Thamri Mohamed @ Shaharuddin meted out the sentence against China-national Chen Jianghong when he changed his plea to guilty today.
The 48-year-old accused was charged with running a private dental clinic without registering it under Section 4(1) of the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 punishable under Section 5(1)(a)(i) of the same Act.
The offence was committed at Hotel Regalia, Level 2, Wisma Chha Yong Fay at about 10.55am on Sept 28.
The charge carries a maximum fine of RM300,000 or maximum jail of six years or both, upon conviction.
The court also ordered Chen’s jail sentence run from the date of his arrest on Sept 28.
Before handing down the sentence, Harmi said the father of one had committed a serious crime as he did not have any experience as a dentist.
“The accused who is a China-national should not operate dental service in the country without getting a licence from the Health Ministry,” he said.
Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurul Khairiyah Samsudin said suitable punishment must be handed down to the accused as this offence involved public interest.
“The accused did not respect our law. Dental service can only be done by registered doctors.
“There are several similar cases in Kedah, Johor, and Pahang which some of them were fined RM250,000 and RM300,000,” she said.
However, Chen who was represented by Tan Teck Yew pleaded for leniency as his client was a sole breadwinner to his family.
The accused later paid the fine.