21yo fake buyer gets 11 months’ jail, fined RM5,000 for stealing three iPhones

By Dorcas Ting

KUCHING, Nov 5: A 21-year-old man who posed as a customer to steal three iPhones from sellers who had advertised them online was sentenced to 11 months’ jail and fined RM5,000 by the Magistrate’s Courts here today.

The local man pleaded guilty to three counts of theft under Section 379 of the Penal Code.

The charges were heard in two separate Magistrate’s Courts, and he was unrepresented by counsel.

The court heard that he contacted sellers who had listed their phones on social media, then met each of them in person in a grey Perodua Axia, using different licence plates each time.

In two of the cases, he went to the sellers’ homes and asked them to open the SIM card tray on the phone as part of his inspection. When the victims went back inside to fetch a SIM ejector pin, he drove off with the phone without paying.

The first charge involved an iPhone 16 Pro Max belonging to a 29-year-old Chinese national, stolen at a house in Kuching City Mall at about 12.30am on Oct 28. For this, Magistrate Ling Hui Chuan imposed a RM5,000 fine or five months’ jail in default.

The second involved an iPhone 16 Pro owned by a 24-year-old woman, taken at an eatery along Jalan Tun Jugah at about 12.49pm on Oct 15. Ling sentenced him to six months’ jail.

On the third charge, Magistrate Nuriena Syafika Mohd Najib sentenced him to five months’ jail for stealing an iPhone 15 Pro Max from a 29-year-old man outside the victim’s home in Kampung Siburan at about 1pm on Oct 20.

All three victims lodged police reports, which led to the suspect’s arrest on Oct 28. Investigators also obtained dashcam footage from one of the victims showing him fleeing with the phone.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Nurul Aqila Morsalin and Muhammad Aidil Akmal Sharidan prosecuted. – DayakDaily

Advertisement