Man who gave ATM cards to ‘friend’ gets fines instead of commissions

KUALA LUMPUR: A man who hoped to earn thousands of ringgit in commissions gave his three ATM cards to a “friend” for a business venture but ended up being fined for fraud.

Tham Han Horng pleaded guilty to four charges under Section 411 of the Penal Code for dealing in stolen property, and was fined RM1,500 each by the magistrate’s court in Sungai Petani, Kedah, in August.

And that may not be the end of his trouble, as he could face a possible 13 more charges for fraud.

Tham brought his case to the attention of DAP Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng who decided to reveal it as a lesson to others not to fall victim to the scam.

Lim said Tham’s bank accounts were used by a syndicate to transfer money from its victims.

“He was charged in court where he pleaded guilty because he thought there were only four cases. Actually, there are 13 more all over Malaysia and he is likely to go to jail as he now has a criminal record,” said Lim.

Tham said that on April 2017, he and a friend, named Kelvin, decided to start an online business to sell clothes and shoes.

“I handed over my three ATM cards as he told me he was going to use my accounts for the online business.

“Kelvin said he would give me a commission of around RM1,600 a month to use the cards but I only received the amount once,” he said at the DAP Segambut service centre.

In August, Tham was arrested by three police officers from Kedah who told him that he was involved in an online scam.

After his arrest, he tried to contact Kelvin but his phone number had been disconnected.

Tham said the scam involved a bogus Facebook account advertising for easy loans.

“These quick loans are for those who didn’t qualify for bank loans. The accounts were used to transfer the processing fee of RM800 to RM1,000 from the victims supposedly for the loans to be approved,” he said.

Lim called on the police to go after the masterminds of these scams instead of the account holders who were often the victims.

“It is unfair and unjust when they just go after the account holders while the masterminds remain free to cheat more people.” -FMT