Young scam offenders to face jail or reformative training by default under proposed Bill: MHA
Reformative training and jail time should be the default sentencing options for scammers and those who facilitate scams, according to a Bill proposed in Parliament on Tuesday (Nov 3).The Sentencing (Scams) Bill, introduced by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), reaffirms Parliament's intention that scam and scam-enabling offences should be met with strong deterrent sentences because of the serious harm they cause to victims.However, on Sept 10, the High Court published its judgement regarding the case of Mohamed Erzan Taib Zohri, one among six young offenders who allegedly committed scam-enabling offences.The court allowed four of the six appeals and replaced the offenders' reformative training sentences with probation.The High Court also held that reformative training or imprisonment should not be the default sentence for young offenders who commit scam-enabling offences. According to MHA, this is inconsistent with Parliament's intention that such offences should generally attract deterrent sentences.