KUCHING: A man and two women, all employees of a bank during the alleged incident, claimed trial in the Sessions Court here today to a charge of cheating a senior citizen through a non-existent investment scheme involving RM16,000.
The trio, aged between 27 and 54 years old, pleaded not guilty when the joint charge was read before Judge Noorhisham Mohd Jaafar.
According to the charge sheet, they were accused of acting with common intent to deceive a 61-year-old man by inducing him to surrender RM16,000 for a bogus investment scheme.
The alleged offence took place at one of the bank’s branches here on November 15, 2024.
They were charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34, which carries imprisonment of between one and 10 years, whipping and a possible fine upon conviction.
During proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor, Mohamad Aiman Mutallib Mohamad Shariff, sought a RM1-million bail for each accused with two local sureties, citing public interest as they were allegedly involved in multiple similar schemes.
He told the court that other victims had also suffered losses, with total reported losses reaching RM11 million, and noted that the trio were expected to face money-laundering (AMLA) charges as well.
Defence counsel, Datuk Shankar Ram, representing the second accused, urged the court to impose a lower bail with strict reporting conditions.
He said his client needed time to raise funds for legal fees and manage day-to-day matters following the suspension and termination of the accused’s employment.
The court then granted each accused RM10,000 bail with one local surety, and ordered them to surrender their passports and report to the nearest police station at the start of every month.
The case is fixed for mention and case management on February 6, 2026.
The first accused was represented by lawyer, Ralph Lee, while the third accused was represented by lawyer, Voon Lee Shan.
Earlier, Stampin Member of Parliament, Chong Chieng Jen, had arranged a meeting between four individuals, who claimed to be victims of the alleged scam, and a senior representative from the affected bank’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
Chong said the victims were duped by the bank’s officers who promoted fake investment schemes in separate incidents in 2024 and this year.
The victims were instructed to withdraw cash from their accounts at the said bank before the officers pretended to invest the money and issued forged receipts resembling the bank’s official documents.
