By M. MAGESWARI KUALA LUMPUR: For her role in cheating Tabung Haji by withdrawing one of its member’s savings amounting to RM1.24mil, hairdresser Norzana Ruslan was only paid RM30 by a syndicate. But she paid a heavier price yesterday when a Sessions judge jailed her 74 months on two counts of cheating. The court was told that Norzana, 27, had gone to the Tabung Haji headquarters on July 18, 2001, with a savings book belonging to businesswoman Yuhaniz Mohamad Padil, 29, and applied to withdraw RM950,000. She was said to have used a fake identity card that displayed her photograph and Yuhaniz’s particulars. When the withdrawal was approved, she took the cheque to the Bangunan Tabung Haji Bank Islam branch in Jalan Tun Razak here and cashed it. Norzana, of Taman Indah Jaya, also withdrew RM290,000 from the same account using the same method on July 20, 2001. She claimed trial to the charges in August 2005 but changed her plea yesterday after the trail had gone through eight prosecution witnesses. Pleading for leniency, her lawyer Jagdish Kaur said her client had been influenced to commit both offences by a female customer and a male friend. “She had fallen into their trap because of their friendliness and clever tactics. She just gave her identity card and a photograph to them when they asked her to do so without knowing their plans,” she said. She said Norzana had been manipulated by the syndicate members and that she was only paid RM30 for her role.
(SOURCE: The Star,6 March 2007)