A lorry driver who was sentenced to a jail term of 53 years for fraud which he never committed was finally acquitted of his conviction on May 3.
However, this acquittal came only after Tey Kok Liong, 49, was forced to spend about two years serving the 53-year jail sentence.
This was all due to a case of stolen identity as Tey’s name and identity card was misused in order to register 10 businesses dealing in fraudulent activities.
It escalated to the point that Teh faced 494 cases filed by fraud victims with the Consumer Claims Tribunal between 2013 and 2014.
“Someone used Tey’s name and identity card to register 10 companies (under) the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM). Back in 2013 and 2014, registration could be done online and there were no biometrics.
“These companies were used to commit fraud against the general public and the fraud victims complained to the Consumer Claims Tribunal,” said Selayang MP William Leong, who held a press conference at his service centre with Tey and Tey’s lawyer today.
The biometric scanning system was only introduced in October 2015 through the ezBiz portal which was specifically meant to prevent cases of identity theft.
According to a press statement, in October 2016, Tey was visited by officers from the then Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Ministry (KPDNKK) and was served with 57 orders from the Consumer Claims Tribunal under regulation 21(5) of the Consumer Protection Act (Consumer Claims Tribunal) 1999.
Tey then lodged a police report stating that he has never registered any businesses and that his name and identity card were misused in the registrations. He also cancelled the businesses registered under his name with the CCM.
Despite that, in January 2018, Tey faced charges under Section 117 of the Consumer Protection Act 1999 for failing to fulfil the orders issued by the tribunal within 14 days.
He faced charges for 16 cases at the Kota Bharu Magistrates Court and 55 cases at the Seremban Magistrates Court.
On March 3, 2019, Tey was convicted for over 11 cases in Kota Bharu and he was sentenced to jail terms between six months to 12 months for each case, which were to run concurrently.
In Seremban, on May 31, 2019, Tey was sentenced to prison for all 55 cases, with jail terms ranging from five to 18 months for each case which were to be served consecutively.
“The total jail terms was for 53 years, four months and 16 days,” the statement read.
'Returned my innocence'
Tey, who could not afford a lawyer while his cases were being heard in Kota Bharu and Seremban, was sent to the Pengkalan Chepa prison on March 3, 2019.
A few months later, towards the end of 2019, the lorry driver’s family contacted Leong, who is a lawyer by profession, to help Tey. Leong, along with fellow lawyers Chiew Choon Man and Lee Zhe Hui, agreed to offer legal services to Tey for free.
“When he was sentenced, he straightaway went to jail. His family didn’t even know what happened until someone from one of the associations was kind-hearted enough to inform his brother that Tey is already in jail.
“If not, his brother and family would not know anything. They came to see me. After then, we went to Kota Bharu, met with Tey in prison and went through the court process by making an appeal,” Leong said.
Speaking at the press conference today, Tey said he only found out his name had been misused by a “co-worker” when he was visited by KPDNKK officers in 2016.
“I could not afford a lawyer. Because I did not prepare strong evidence, the court sentenced me to 53 years in prison. Inside the prison, I asked my friend to look for my brother and through my brother, I contacted Leong to ask for assistance.
“Leong’s legal team helped me wholeheartedly and eventually managed to find strong evidence to prove that I had nothing to do with the case. The Seremban High Court has returned my innocence so I thank Leong’s legal team, CCM and the KPDNKK investigators,” Tey said in Mandarin.
The lawyers had appealed Tey’s cases at the Seremban and Kota Bharu courts until the convictions were rescinded. They also asked the police and CCM to investigate Tey’s complaint that his identity was misused.
“At all material time, Tey was only a normal worker who worked with an air-conditioning technician and drove a lorry in Kuala Lumpur. Tey is also not so good with his literacy.
“That is why Tey does not have the capability to open 10 businesses and come up with fraudulent schemes affecting hundreds of people. Tey also did not and could not afford to hire someone else to carry out the fraudulent activities,” the statement read.
The statement also said Tey’s identity was used to register a company operating a fraud syndicate with the scratch-and-win modus operandi.
As such, Leong advised the public to always be careful with copies of their identity cards and to always mark the copies for whatever dealings.
In July 2020, through a letter to the lawyer, CCM had said their investigations showed Tey was not involved with the companies’ registration and that his name was misused.
In November the same year, CCM also informed that action had been taken against the perpetrators who misused Tey’s identity.
“After gathering all these new evidence to support Tey’s defence, on May 3, 2021, the Seremban High Court decided to accept Tey’s appeal over his convictions and his 53-year, four-month and 16-day jail sentence.
“Tey was found not guilty and was released immediately,” the statement read. - Mkini
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