PSM tells AG to sympathise with 'scam' victims

 

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) deputy president S Arutchelvan has called on Attorney-General Idrus Harun to sympathise with alleged scam victims who continue to be pressured by the police and prosecutors for offences they claim they did not commit.

This is as the victims are often faced with a more severe penalty if they opt to take their case to trial, compared to pleading guilty to a lesser charge, he said. 

“What is painful is that even though the maximum fine under Section 29 of the Minor Offences Act is RM1,000, sometimes the victims of scams are asked to pay a higher court bail if they plead not guilty.

“They are usually given the choice to plead guilty under Section 29 but if they want the case to be tried, they will be threatened with the possibility of being charged under Section 424 of the Penal Code, which carries higher fines and imprisonment.

“Therefore, the choice between (both) charges lead to many people confessing to Section 29 and paying the fines,” Arutchelvan (above) said in a statement today.

The PSM leader was commenting on a bank loan scam case involving a lorry driver being cheated by an individual he met on Facebook.

Victim M Arumugam and his wife, only known as Vally, faced 27 charges in July 2020 after his ATM card was used by a third party without his knowledge.

From left: PSM's S Arutchelvan, victims Vally and M Arumugam

On Wednesday, Vally was released without bail by the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate's Court after the complainant withdrew the case on grounds of sympathy, finding the accused to be a victim of fraud.

However, Vally is still facing another charge, while her husband has two more cases awaiting trial. 

'Victims of scams are innocent' 

There were also reported cases in Kuala Lumpur, Sarawak, Kelantan, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Penang and Johor that are awaiting prosecution.

“PSM has started a sub-committee, along with the help of the Legal Aid Centre and a dedicated team of lawyers to take a stand, challenge and fight these cases. In these (types of) cases, we maintain that victims of scams are innocent, yet those in distress are prosecuted in court.

“The accused were deceived while trying to get loans. They were deceived by a big scammer. The victims in these cases that we handle were not conspiring, nor did they receive a percentage of profit,” Arutchelvan said.

He claimed that the police do not want to listen to the victims' reasonings even though the victims have evidence.  

"The police are only interested in closing the cases without investigation or initiatives to look for the scammer, only taking the fastest route in the investigations. 

"The victims of scams are then detained and charged," he added. 

Arutchelvan said the police tend to clarify that they only carry out investigations and that the prosecution division will decide the charges.

However, he said, these divisions are united in prosecuting the victims.

Hence, Idrus needs to be sympathetic and find the real criminals, instead of those who were made victims, he added.  - Mkini