Two women get 12 months jail for adoption fraud

SEREMBAN: Two women were sentenced to 12 months’ jail by the Magistrate’s Court here on Friday (Sept 1), after they pleaded guilty to cheating a man who was trying to adopt a child, last July.

Magistrate Nurul Saqinah Rosli handed down the sentence on G. Gayatree, 32, a caretaker and food delivery rider Aliyah Begum Selvam, 30, and ordered them to serve their sentence from Friday.

The duo was jointly charged with deceiving a 37-year-old man into believing that they could help him with the adoption by depositing RM7,900 in seven transactions into a bank account

The offence framed under Section 420 of the Penal Code provides imprisonment for a term of not less than one year and not more than ten years with whipping, and a fine, on conviction.

They were charged with committing the offence at a house in Jalan Arah, Sendayan here on July 15.

Based on the facts of the case, the victim was told by Gayatree that a poor family was willing to give up their baby for adoption with an advance payment of RM4,000 and was later requested to make several transactions totalling RM7,900.

Deputy public prosecutor Nik Nur ‘Aqilah Syarfa Nik Zaidi conducted the prosecution while counsel J. Dasene of the National Legal Aid Foundation represented the accused. – Bernama