4 years prison for Sheila Majid's former clerk

A former clerk with an entertainment production company owned by Malaysian artiste Datuk Sheila Majid was sentenced to four years in jail today for criminal breach of trust involving RM90,000.

Sessions Court judge Zulqarnain Hassan in finding Nasimah Kamarudin, 40, guilty, ruled that the defence had failed to cast a reasonable doubt on the prosecution's case.

Nevertheless, the court granted a stay of Nasimah's sentence pending appeal but increased her bail amount from RM10,000 to RM18,000 with one surety.

In his judgement, Zulqarnain said Nasimah had committed a serious white collar crime which put the country's financial system and business in a bad light.

"Offences of criminal breach of trust are commonly reported in the mass media. This shows that it is rampant and that potential offenders are still undeterred.

"As a trusted staff in the company, you chose to dishonestly misuse RM90,000 of its money," noted Zulqarnain while adding that the company took into account, public interest in imposing the sentence.

The court found that Nasimah who was entrusted to manage a Maybank cheque book belonging to Magada Entertainment Sdn Bhd had issued five cash cheques in her name and deposited eight cheques in her bank account totaling RM90,000.

She committed the offence at the company's premises at No. 32, Jalan Balau, Damansara Heights here, between Nov 1, 2007 and March 28, 2008, under section 408 of the Penal Code.

During the trial, deputy public prosecutor Faridah Nurdinie Bahrum called four witnesses including Sheila while counsel Ahmad Shamil Azad Abdul Hamid called Nasimah as the defence's sole witness.