An Indonesian man was jailed three months and fined 5,000 ringgits (US$1,234) on Tuesday after pleading guilty to using a fake identity card and claiming to be a Malaysian citizen for nearly 30 years.
The man, 54, also faces being sent back to his homeland once he has served his prison sentence in Malaysia.
The man’s pretense was exposed by officers from the National Registration Department in Malacca when he filed an application to renew “his” Malaysian identity card, at 10am on July 27, China Press reported.
The ID card he presented was found to be counterfeit and he admitted to the officers he had obtained it through a friend after paying him 500 ringgits.
The court learnt that the Indonesian man entered Malaysia in 1981. He had overstayed and married a local woman and had successfully posed as a legal citizen using the fake card for more than 28 years.
So, the man was given a three-month jail term and fined 5,000 ringgits. But the court warned that he would face 12 months in jail if he failed to pay the fine.
After serving his sentence, he will be sent back to Indonesia as he does not have a legal travel document.