News

Friday October 30, 2009

SHAH ALAM: An officer of a company was charged in the Sessions Court here Friday for cheating 30 people to invest in gold bullion to the tune of RM994,898.

Wan Mohamed Wan Zin, 41, pleaded not guilty and asked to be tried after the charge was read out to him before Judge Hasbi Hasan.

The charge read that the accused, as an officer of company SMIQ Resources Sdn Bhd, had the people invest in “Kijang Emas Gold Bullion Coins” with a promise of high returns and had them pay RM994,988 to the company for its use.

He was charged with committing the offence at No 1391A, Batu Caves Business Centre between Jan 1, 2006 and Dec 31, 2008.

The charge under Section 366(3) of the Companies Act 1965 (Act 125) allows for a prison term of up to seven years or a maximum fine of RM30,000 or both if found guilty.

Prosecuting officer from the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) Nik Zunaidi Zakaria proposed bail of RM30,000 with one surety with an additional condition of having Wan Mohamed report himself to the nearest police station each month.

Wan Mohamed, who was not represented, asked the court to reduce the bail as he has not had a permanent job since the case was investigated by the CCM.

“The charge against me is also irrelevent as some of the people involved did not deal with the Batu Caves office but the Alor Setar branch and some were not involved with us (the Batu Caves office),” he said.

Hasbi however interjected and said all that should be brought up during the trial and not while appealing for reduced bail.

She then set bail at RM12,000 with one surety and fixed Nov 16 for mention to appoint counsel. -- Bernama

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/10/30/nation/20091030172219&sec=nation