TAWAU, Sabah: A total of 78 Chinese nationals, one individual from Laos and one from Myanmar pleaded not guilty at the Magistrates’ Court here on Wednesday to charges related to online scams.
All 80 accused, including four women aged between 17 and 46, entered their pleas before Magistrate Dayang Aidaku Amira Aminuddin after the charges were read to them in Mandarin.
According to the charge sheet, the accused were jointly engaged in a criminal conspiracy by impersonating Chinese police officers to commit an unlawful act, namely, deceiving victims through insurance fraud via telephone and video calls.
The alleged offence took place at a premises here at 9:25 am on April 7.
They were charged under Section 120B of the Penal Code, which provides for a maximum imprisonment of six months, or a fine, or both, upon conviction.
The court granted bail of RM3,500 with two local sureties for 57 of the accused. The remaining 23 were not offered bail as they also face charges for immigration offences.
The next case mention has been set for May 25 for document submission.
Deputy Public Prosecutor, Shearil Aizad Murnizam, appeared for the prosecution.
Seven of the accused were represented by lawyer Vivian Thien, while two others were represented by lawyer Jhesseny P Kang.
The remaining accused were unrepresented. – BERNAMA
