KUALA LUMPUR: A group of company directors, including a Datuk have been hauled to court and charged with 81 counts of money laundering involving a total of RM19mil linked to a fake Visitor’s Pass for Temporary Employment (PLKS) syndicate.
The five – Datuk Ab Aziz Abdullah, 44; his sister Anita Abdullah, 47; Anita’s husband Muhammad Semail, 43; Abu Yazid Mohd, 38; and Mohd Hariza Mohd Yusof, 34 – pleaded not guilty when the charges were read out at two separate Sessions Courts here yesterday.
The court interpreter took more than an hour to read all the charges before Sessions Court judge Suzana Hussin.
They were accused of having in possessions cash in the millions, properties, and luxury vehicles purchased with monies believed to be proceeds from unlawful activities from a current account belonging to several entities.
Ab Aziz was slapped with 41 counts of money laundering involving RM9.42mil in the form of cash, properties and luxury cars such as a Range Rover Sport, Mercedes Benz GLA 43 and GMC Yukon XL.
Anita was charged with 15 counts of money laundering totalling RM5.06mil in the form of cash and properties while Abu faced three counts of money laundering involving RM341,915 in the form of cash and luxury cars.
Deputy public prosecutor Nik Haslinie Hashim offered a RM500,000 bail on all the accused.
However, lawyer Md Yunos Shariff who represented all the accused pleaded for minimum bail on grounds that his clients had given their full cooperation during investigation.
Judge Suzana fixed bail at RM400,000, RM250,000 and RM150,000 in one surety each against Ab Aziz, Anita and Abu, respectively.
The case was fixed for mention on April 20.
At a separate court, Muhammad was slapped with 11 counts of money laundering totalling RM1.72mil, €1,300 (RM6,034) and ￡2,000 (RM11,030), monies believed to be proceeds from unlawful activities.
Muhammad was also jointly charged with Abu as directors of Panorama Indeks Sdn Bhd of having RM28,985.13, believed to be proceeds from unlawful activities, in the company’s account.
Hariza was charged with possessing and using RM1.56mil believed to be proceeds from unlawful activities in his accounts.
Hariza and Ab Aziz were also jointly charged as directors of Sepakat Hidayah Sdn Bhd and of having RM559,779.15 believed to be proceeds from unlawful activities in the company’s account.
They were accused of committing the offence in several places near the Klang Valley since February 2015.
The charges were framed under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (AMLATFPUAA) 2001.
The offence under AMLATFPUAA carries a jail term not exceeding 15 years and a fine of at least five times the sum obtained from money laundering or RM5mil, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi fixed bail at RM250,000 in one surety against Hariza and Muhammad each.
The court also fixed April 20 for mention.