Former supermarket cashier jailed over RM500,000 Touch 'n Go eWallet fraud

KUALA LUMPUR - A former supermarket cashier has been sentenced to two years in prison after admitting to criminal breach of trust and money laundering offences involving more than RM500,000 through the misuse of a Touch 'n Go eWallet PIN terminal entrusted to her by her employer.

Nur Atiqah Asyirah Muhamad Fauzi, 29, pleaded guilty to two charges of criminal breach of trust and 12 charges of money laundering before Sessions Court Judge Norma Ismail on Monday.

The court imposed a two-year prison sentence for each offence but ordered all sentences to run concurrently from the date of sentencing.

According to the charges, Atiqah was entrusted with a PIN terminal machine belonging to a supermarket but misused the device by generating Touch 'n Go eWallet PIN values worth RM98,800, which were later redeemed into her personal eWallet account between Jan 7, 2023 and July 9, 2024.

The criminal breach of trust charges were framed under Section 408 of the Penal Code, which carries a prison term of between one and 14 years, whipping and a fine upon conviction.

She also faced 12 money laundering charges involving RM469,400 that were transferred into Touch 'n Go eWallet accounts belonging to herself, family members and friends.

Investigations revealed that the accused used the PIN terminal entrusted to her by the supermarket to generate Touch 'n Go eWallet PINs between January 2023 and August 2024 before redeeming them for cash value.

The money laundering charges were brought under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

Court documents stated that the case came to light after the supermarket manager lodged a police report over suspected criminal breach of trust.

Subsequent checks of e-pay records found that the accused had allegedly used the terminal device to top up Touch 'n Go eWallet accounts for personal use from August 2022 until July 2024.

During mitigation, defence lawyer Arik Zakri Abdul Kadir requested a lighter sentence, highlighting that his client had pleaded guilty and cooperated with the proceedings.

According to him, Atiqah was a first-time offender who had accepted responsibility for her actions.

"Because of this case, she lost her job and is also suffering from depression," he said.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Batrisya Mohd Khusri, however, argued for a fitting punishment, saying the offences had caused financial losses to the company and were carried out systematically over a prolonged period.

"There were transactions over a two-year period and not a one-off incident.

Therefore, the accused's conduct was not a momentary mistake but a series of betrayals of trust," she said.