| Fadley Faisal |

A LOCAL man was yesterday sentenced to three years’ imprisonment by the Magistrate’s Court in Kuala Belait, after failing to pay a fine of BND1,684,152 on February 11, upon the conviction of one charge under Section 146(1) (d) of the Excise Order 2006.

Faisal bin Salleh, 37, a member of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF), was found guilty after trial, for the offence of possessing more than 1,550 cartons of various brands of cigarettes and 18 bottles of liquor discovered in his house in Kuala Belait by enforcement officers of the Royal Customs and Excise Department on September 11, 2017.

The total amount of calculated excise duties evaded by the defendant was BND140,346.

During trial, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nor ‘Adliatul Hidayah binti Haji Mohd Zaidi, who appeared for the Public Prosecutor in the case, called nine witnesses and proved the prosecution’s case to be beyond the court’s reasonable doubt that the defendant was in knowing possession of the goods.

The defendant was represented by lawyer Haji Ahmad Zakaria bin Mohammad.

Acting Senior Magistrate Pengiran Shahyzul Khairuddien bin Pengiran Abdul Rahman stated that a deterrent sentence was necessary, in light of the severity of the offence, as well as the defendant’s responsibilities as a member of the army, tasked with upholding the laws for peace and security in the country.