Cheating

Q. (Also posted in My-RealProperty2)
What if an illegal broker is found cheating on people with fake housing projects and disappearing with money put as deposit?

A.
The laws are Penal Code and VAEA Act 1981.

Penal Code has a section on Cheating. If found guilty of cheating, the perpetrator can be charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to 10 years, whipping and a fine.

Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property 

420. Whoever cheats and thereby dishonestly induces the person deceived, whether or not the deception practiced was the sole or main inducement, to deliver any property to any person, or to make, alter, or destroy the whole or any part of a valuable security, or anything which is signed or sealed, and which is capable of being converted into a valuable security, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year and not more than ten years and with whipping, and shall also be liable to fine.

VAEA Act Section 30 has the penalty of RM300,000 and 3 years jail term for offence of practising estate agency without proper authority.

30. (1) Any person who—

• (a) procures or attempts to procure registration or an authority to practice under this Act by knowingly making or producing or causing to be made or produced any false or fraudulent declaration, certificate, application or representation whether in writing or otherwise;
• (b) wilfully makes or causes to be made any falsification in the Register or Register of Probationary Valuer/Probationary Estate Agent or Register of Firms;
• (c) forges, alters or counterfeits any certificate, testimonial, order or authority to practice under this Act;
• (d) utters or uses any forged, altered or counterfeit authority to practice under this Act knowing the same to be forged, altered or counterfeited;
• (e) impersonates a registered valuer, appraiser or estate agent;
• (f) buys or fraudulently obtains an authority to practice under this Act issued to another person;
• (g) sells, transfers, sublets or otherwise permits any other person to use any authority to practice issued to him under this Act;
• (h) not being a person acting under the immediate personal direction and supervision of a registered valuer, appraiser or 
• estate agent carries out or undertakes to carry out any work provided under section 19 or 22B;
• (i) acts in contravention of section 21 or 22C; or
• (j) aids and abets in the commission of an offence under this Act,

commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding three hundred thousand ringgit (RM300,000) or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years (<3 i="" years=""> or to both and he shall be liable to a further penalty of one thousand ringgit (RM1,000 per day) for each day during the continuance of such offence.

See below link on "Liability for offences by firm".

As for which law the bogus agent or illegal broker were to be charged, it is the decision of the Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) - TPR (Timbalan Pendakwa Raya). Usually, the case is taken up when a victim of the cheating incident lodged a Police Report. In such case, it is a criminal wrong. The State will take action against the perpetrator - in this case the bogus agent/illegal broker.

If the decision is using Penal Code (which is likely in most of the cases), then the DPP will charge the perpetrator with the session of law that best fit the case.

*Thanks to Mr Nathan for the comment and guidance in this question.

Ref:
S.420 Penal Code.
S.30 VAEA Act, 1981.
Comment by Nathan Maharajah 28 Sep, 2017 by WhatSApp.