SEPANG: Three men and two women, all Filipinos, were jailed for six months and fined RM5,000 each by the Magistrate's Court here today for misusing MyKad belonging to others.
Another Filipino, who is underage, was jailed a month for the same offence.
Magistrate Ayuni Izzati Sulaiman meted out the punishment towards the accused, Sahara Jamil, 51; Husin Jailun, 48; Nor Aishah Insanul, 29; Ujirin Pandakan, 43; Mukmin Oskar, 29; and a 15-year-old teenager after they pleaded guilty.
The magistrate also set a jail term of 12 months if they fail to pay the fine.
Upon completion of their sentence, they will be referred to the Immigration Department for further action.
According to the charge, all of the accused were alleged to have used identification documents that did not belong to them.
The offence was committed at Terminal 2 of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 1.30pm last Thursday.
Prosecution was carried out by National Registration Department (NRD) prosecuting officers Zulkarnain Ahmad Noor and Fadilah Mat Shaari.
Zulkarnain and Fadilah requested for a heavier, deterrent sentence, arguing that the offence jeopardises national security and has detrimental implications for the actual owners of the identity cards.
All the accused, who were unrepresented, pleaded for a more lenient sentence, saying that had families to support back in the Philippines.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court ordered all five accused to be imprisoned for six months from the date of arrest while the female teenager was jailed for a month.
It was previously reported that the NRD, together with cooperation from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had crippled a syndicate smuggling illegal, undocumented, Filipino foreign workers by air from Sabah to Peninsular Malaysia.
Home Ministry chief secretary, Datuk Ruji Ubi said that as a result of the operation, 15 people believed to be involved in the crime were detained in Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Tawau, Sabah last Thursday.