IPOH: A 44-year-old man, believed to have posed as a variety of professionals like the character in the Steven Spielberg film Catch Me If You Can, has pleaded not guilty to cheating a woman of RM24,000 over a pilot’s job.
Mohamad Faizul Baharudin claimed trial when the charge was read to him before Magistrate Siti Nora Shariff on Friday (Oct 4).
He was charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating, which provides for a jail term of between one and 10 years, whipping and a fine upon conviction.
According to the charge sheet the accused had, between Dec 22, 2016 and April 8, 2018 at the ATM of a bank in Gunung Rapat, deceived one Latipah Ahmad Sudan, 64, to fraudulently inducing her to hand over RM24,000 in cash to get the purported job, which did not exist.
The charge sheet also stated that Latipah would not have made the payments if she had not been deceived into doing so by the accused.
DPP Nuranisah Ismah Muhammad Husaini requested bail to be set at RM10,000.
National Legal Aid Foundation lawyer Robert Gnanarajan requested a minimal bail amount as the accused was married with five children.
Siti Nora set bail at RM4,500 and fixed Nov 27 for next mention.
Harian Metro had reported earlier that a man had allegedly posed as a pilot, a DPP, a rugby coach and an engineer, much like Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in the 2002 movie Catch Me If You Can – which was inspired by a true story.
The Malay daily quoted sources as saying that the suspect had allegedly deceived various victims of millions since 2001, and had been sought by police since 2018.
It also quoted Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf as saying that the suspect was arrested at 11.45pm on Tuesday (Oct 1) in Ampang, Selangor.
