Kota Kinabalu: A 46-year-old man was fined a total of RM15,000 for allowing three illegal immigrants to remain in his premises.
Sessions Court Judge Azreena Aziz handed the sentence to James Pang Kai Loon who pleaded guilty to the charge against him, Wednesday.
Pang was fined RM5,000 or two months’ jail for each foreigner involved.
He was found allowing the three Filipinos, age between 18 and 30, to stay at the James Home Renol (kilang) Kg Kibabig in Jalan Datuk Panglima Banting, Penampang at 13.27pm on Jan 23 this year.
The Filipinos did not have any social work passes.
The offence under Section 55E(2) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 carries a jail term of up to a year, or a fine of between RM5,000 and RM30,000, or both, for each illegal immigrant involved.
During mitigation, Pang asked for leniency saying that due to the pandemic, his income was affected.
However, Prosecuting Officer Zaifee Zaimin from the Immigration Department urged the court to impose an adequate sentence as such case was very rampant nowadays.
In another case, a 46-year-old woman was fined RM5,000 in default two months’ jail for letting a Filipino without any document to remain in her place.
Salinia Hatimin admitted to allowing the 30-year-old Filipino stay in her premises at Restoran Salim in KK Taipan, Inanam at 11am on Aug 18, 2020.
In asking for leniency, Salinia also informed the court that she needed to pay high shop rental and that due to pandemic, her business was affected.
The court granted Salinia’s application to pay the fine by two instalments and she was ordered to pay RM3,000 on Wednesday and the balance before Aug 2 this year.
