KUCHING: The Magistrate’s Court here sentenced a local man to one year and six months in prison and two strokes of the cane for committing criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving two rented Toyota Fortuner SUVs, which he handed over to a third party in exchange for RM1,000.
Olsen, 29, from Serian, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Mason Jaro Lenya Barayan to two charges under Section 405 of the Penal Code, punishable under Section 406 of the same Code.
For the first charge, he was accused of unlawfully transferring ownership of a Toyota Fortuner 2.8 belonging to a 37-year-old man, violating a legal contract, and failing to return the vehicle as agreed.
The offence was committed at Kuching International Airport around 11 am on February 4.
For the second charge, he committed the same offence involving a Toyota Fortuner 2.4 belonging to a 32-year-old man, breaching the legal contract and failing to return the vehicle.
This occurred at a house in Jalan Stutong around 7 pm on Feb 8.
The court sentenced Olsen to one year in prison and one stroke of the cane for the first charge, and one year and six months in prison with one stroke of the cane for the second charge.
Both sentences are to run concurrently.
According to case facts, two police reports were lodged on February 4 and February 8 by individuals who had rented out vehicles to Olsen but did not receive them back.
On March 7, the Bintulu Commercial Crime Investigation Division (CCID) arrested Olsen at Jalan Tun Hussein Onn here around 8 pm.
Investigations revealed that he had rented both vehicles but handed them over to an unknown individual on the instructions of a friend, solely to receive RM1,000.
Olsen first connected with the 37-year-old complainant through a Facebook car rental page, paying a RM2,350 deposit, with the remaining RM800 to be transferred online.
He also signed a rental agreement with the 32-year-old complainant, paying a RM500 cash deposit and RM1,000 via online transfer.
By surrendering the vehicles entrusted to him in exchange for payments, Olsen was found to have committed CBT.
