MELAKA: A student was fined RM12,000 by the magistrate's court here today for stealing and selling off her foster mother's jewellery worth RM5,305 to support her boyfriend.
Nurul Aqilah Abdullah, 20, from Tangga Batu, pleaded guilty to three counts of assisting in the concealment of stolen property when the charges were read to her before magistrate Norina Maludin.
On the first to third count, Aqilah was charged with assisting in the concealment of stolen property by selling a stolen necklace worth RM605, a bangle worth RM1,250 and a necklace worth RM3,450, all belonging to her foster mother Zalina Ramli, 40 totalling to RM5,305 under Section 414 of the Penal Code.
She committed all the offences at Tanjung Jewellers Enterprise on Apr 4, Apr 8 and Apr 10 between 9am till 5pm this year.
According to the facts of the case, her foster mother realised that a bag of jewellery in her drawer went missing and confronted her foster daughter at their home on June 24.
Aqilah admitted to have stolen the jewellery and sold it off to a goldsmith shop with proceeds from the sale of the items used for her boyfriend and herself.
Her foster mother lodged a report and this led to Aqilah's arrest and her boyfriend, Muhammad Aidil Japri, 19 at a home in Rumah Pangsa Seri Kubu, Jalan Kampung Empat on Sept 8.
Aqilah later led police to a jewellery shop with owner, Kang Hock Eng, 28 handed nine copies of sales receipt and told the police that jewellery were melted down and resold.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mazuin Hashim urged the court to impose a deterrant sentence as Aqilah had repeatedly stolen jewellery belonging to her foster family.
Aqilah, who was unrepresented, pleaded for a lenient sentence as she was still young and expressed her desire to further her studies.
Norina then sentenced her to a fine of RM4,000 for each count, in default of six months in jail.
At a separate court, Aqilah however pleaded not guilty to four counts under Section 414 of the Penal Code for concealment of stolen property before magistrate Mohd Firdaus Saleh.
Aqilah claimed trial to charges of assisting in the concealment of stolen property by selling a pair of earrings, a bangle and a leg chain worth RM2,590; a bangle worth RM1,108; a bangle worth RM600 and a bracelet, a pair of earring and a ring worth RM4,500, all totalling to RM8,798.
She allegedly committed the offences at Tanjung Jewellers Enterprise between 9am on Mar 16 and 7pm on Mar 25, this year.
Mohd Firdaus set bail at RM8,000 for all the four counts and fixed Dec 7 for mention and appointment of lawyer.
Both fine and bail were not paid.