Ex-Astro staff jailed 4 years for data tampering

 Nora Idayu Jaafar, 49, pleads guilty to 731 charges of unauthorised data modification involving Astro's customer system.

The court interpreter took about five hours to reread all 731charges to Nora Idayu Jaafar at the Kuala Lumpur sessions court before she pleaded guilty to every count.

KUALA LUMPUR:

A former Astro employee was sentenced to four years’ jail by the sessions court here today after pleading guilty to 731 charges of unauthorised modification of data.

Judge Izralizam Sanusi imposed a four-year jail term on each charge against Nora Idayu Jaafar, 49, but ordered all of them to run concurrently.

Nora was accused of altering Astro’s customer relationship management system to convert regular customer accounts into corporate accounts between 2013 and 2020 at the company’s office in Menara Icon at Jalan Tun Razak here.

The case came to light after an internal investigation by Astro on Sept 1, 2020, when the company found that the number of smart cards and decoders activated under its corporate account was excessively high and did not tally with the list provided by the corporate account custodian.

Investigations later pointed to Nora, who had system access through two user IDs.

Further findings reportedly showed that she had removed customers’ cards from regular accounts, created new orders, and reassigned them under the corporate account.

Nora was first charged in June last year under Section 5(1) of the Computer Crimes Act 1997, but the proceedings were halted before the charges could be fully read out after she fainted in court.

A psychiatric evaluation was ordered, and she was later found to be of sound mind and fit to stand trial.

The charges were completed in October, and the court interpreter took about five hours to reread all 731 counts before she entered her guilty plea.

Earlier today, deputy public prosecutor Rohaiza Abd Rahman told the court the number of charges had been reduced from 743 to 731.

The court interpreter then took about five hours to reread all the charges to Nora Idayu before she pleaded guilty to every count.

In mitigation, defence counsel Daniel Annamalai said Nora had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder Type II, which affected her emotional stability and decision-making.

He said she became involved in the offence after getting married in 2013, citing extreme domestic pressure and financial difficulties caused by her then husband, who was a compulsive gambler.

Daniel submitted that a harsh sentence could further worsen Nora’s mental health condition.

He said the court should consider a balanced sentence that would allow his client the opportunity to undergo rehabilitation and continue receiving treatment. - FMT