Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian court in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday sentenced a man to four years behind bars and three strokes of the cane for stealing from the bank accounts of four persons who were on flight MH370, which vanished mid air on March 8, 2014.
Judge Norsharidah Awang sentenced 34-year-old mechanic Basheer Ahmad following his conviction last Wednesday.
Basheer's wife, Nur Shila Kanan, a bank officer, who helped funnel out the funds from the bank accounts of the MH370 passengers, will be sentenced later as she reported sick on Wednesday.
Basheer had pleaded guilty on April to four charges of using a debit card and an ATM card to withdraw a total of Ringgit 7,650 (150,000 rupees) from the account of Chinese national Tian Jun Wei.
Although Basheer had pleaded guilty, deputy public prosecutor Fadhli Mahmud urged the court not to reduce the severity of the punishment.
He said a discount for guilty pleas was not mandatory, adding that in this case public importance outweighed private importance.
"The accused actions brought further pain to the families, who were already grieving over the loss of their loved ones," said Fadhli.
Judge Norsharidah did not issue a sentence for Basheer's wife, Nur Shila Kanan as she was on sick leave due to diarrhea, according to a medical certificate from Hospital Kuala Lumpur, local Star newspaper said.
Shila also faces prison for making illegal transfers and withdrawals, amounting to Ringgit 85,180 (17 lakh rupees) in total, from the passengers' accounts.
Shila was hit with 12 principal charges in relation to transferring money from the HSBC Bank accounts to other bank accounts, theft, getting approval for a debit card and making a new Internet banking application with intent to cheat, and using forged documents at the HSBC branch from May 14 to July 14.
The money was reported missing from the accounts of two Chinese nationals, Ju Kun and Tian Jun Wei, and Malaysians Hue Pui Peng and flight steward Tan Size Hiang.
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