KUALA LUMPUR (June 22): A former senior cashier with a supermarket chain was sentenced to 28 years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to criminal breach of trust (CBT) and money laundering charges, involving Touch 'n Go eWallet reload personal identification numbers (PINs) valued at close to RM600,000, which were meant for customers but were instead transferred to herself and her family.

Sessions Court judge Norma Ismail sentenced Nur Atiqah Asyirah Muhamad Fauzi to two years’ imprisonment for each of the 14 charges, starting from Monday (June 22). The jail term is to run concurrently, which means the 28-year-old woman will only serve two years behind bars.

In September last year, Nur Atiqah was charged with two counts of CBT for transferring Aeon's Touch 'n Go eWallet reload PINs worth RM98,800, which belonged to AEON MaxValu Desa Park City, over the course of 2023 and 2024 to her own eWallet.

She was charged under Section 408 of the Penal Code, which carries a punishment of between one and 14 years, with whipping and a fine. However, it has to be noted that a sentence of whipping is not imposed on women.

She was also charged with 12 counts of money laundering for transferring a sum of RM469,400 in the form of AEON's Touch 'n Go eWallet reload PINs to herself, her family, and friends.

The charges were framed under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA) and are punishable under Subsection 4(1) of the same Act.

It carries with it a maximum of 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of not less than five times the offence or RM5 million, whichever is higher.

Nur Atiqah had initially claimed trial to the charges but then changed her plea on Monday.

During mitigation, her lawyer, Arik Zakri Abdul Kadir of Arik & Kamal, pleaded for the court to impose a minimal sentence as punishment.

He argued that his client was a first-time offender with no prior criminal record and was deeply remorseful of her actions.

He added that the money laundering Nur Atiqah was accused of was on the "lighter spectrum" of the crime, as it only involved direct transfers as opposed to the intricate layering and concealment typical of money laundering crimes.

Deputy public prosecutor Batrisyia Mohd Khusri asked for the court to impose a fitting punishment because the offence was carried out systematically and CBT cannot be viewed lightly.

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Ex-cashier charged with CBT, money laundering for misappropriating employer’s Touch 'n Go reload PINs