KUCHING: A 35-year-old Indonesian woman has been sentenced to six months in prison by the Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to one count of involvement in online gambling.
Feronika was found guilty under Section 4B(a) of the Open Gambling House Act 1953, as revealed before Magistrate Mason Jaro Lenya Barayan.
Magistrate Mason Jaro ordered that Feronika’s prison sentence be enforced from the date of her arrest. Additionally, upon completing her sentence, she will be referred to the Immigration Department.
The charge against her was operating a gambling machine using a mobile phone at a restaurant in Jalan Rumbia, Padungan here on July 25, around 11.45am.
The arrest took place during a police operation called “Op Dadu”, which targeted suspected online gambling top-up sales activities.
During the operation, a man was arrested, and upon examining his mobile phone, the police found evidence leading to Feronika’s apprehension. The seized items included a mobile phone and RM200 in cash.
Further investigations revealed that Feronika’s social visit pass had expired, and she was staying illegally in Malaysia. The Immigration Department confirmed that she had previously reported at the Immigration, Customs, Quarantine, and Security Complex in Biawak, Lundu, in February 2023, but had overstayed for 127 days in Sarawak.
For this immigration offence, she faced another charge in the Sessions Court and pleaded guilty under Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, which can be penalised under Section 15(4) of the same Act.
Judge Afidah Abdul Rahman sentenced her to two months in prison, with the sentence to be enforced from the date of her arrest.
