The Magistrate’s Court recently sentenced a carer to two years’ jail for stealing from a 70-year-old client.
Senior Magistrate Harnita Zelda Skinner heard from Prosecutor Ruzana Adnan that 22-year-old local Muhammad Hafiz bin Matsalleh, who worked with a firm offering caretaking services, had taken advantage of a client. The prosecution also revealed that the client had suffered from a stroke and hired the company’s services which assigned the defendant.
The defendant accompanied the victim to the ATM when making cash withdrawals, and on one occasion recited his personal identification number (PIN) out loud.
On August 29, the defendant took the victim’s ATM card while they were out running errands. The same day, the defendant withdrew BND1,000 cash from the account using the PIN which he memorised. The defendant would then return the ATM card to the victim’s bag.
On August 30, the defendant struck again, withdrawing BND300 and then another BND1,000 the following day with the same modus operandi. The last day of his stint with the victim on September 1, the defendant yet again withdrew BND300.
On September 3, the victim and his son tried withdrawing money, with the ATM rejecting the request due to insufficient funds. – Fadley Faisal
