SIBU: A businessman has been released on a RM12,500 bail in two sureties after he pleaded not guilty to five charges of cheating.
The accused, Die Sing Kwong, 60, was slapped with five charges under Section 417 of the Penal Code today.
The offence carries a jail sentence of not up to five years or with fine or both upon conviction.
He was accused of cheating four persons – Gawan Masin, Aji Surau, Enyang Ato and Untol Luyang – over jobs as lumberjacks in a logging camp in Liberia with a salary of RM8,000 per month.
The offence was committed between November and December 2018 in Kapit.
Die was also charged under the same offence with cheating his partner Tie Siew Heng, by fraudulently inducing him to bear the expenses of the four persons, which included airfare, lodging, food, advance payment of RM2,000 to each one and the purchase of chainsaw and ripping saw.
Tie was arrested by the police together with the accused on March 5. After four days of remand, Tie was released on police bail.
Magistrate Stella Augustine Druce ordered the case to be transferred to the Kapit Magistrate’s Court for case management on March 21 as it took place there.
She also ordered the accused’s passport to be impounded.
The accused’s defence counsel Boston Ho later clarified with the press that only four workers were involved in the case instead of eight.
“There are only five charges. The news reports said there were eight complainants, which is incorrect. Moreover, there were only four workers and another one was actually the partner of the defendant.”
Gawan, in his police report, said sometime in December last year, he received a message on his WeChat from a man who offered him to work in a logging camp in Liberia.
He was told that the man would process his work permit, give him a salary of RM8,000 a month, free food while his air ticket to Liberia would be the responsibility of the company there.
The four victims agreed to the offer and met a man to arrange for their visas and air tickets to Liberia.
On Jan 3, they were accompanied by a man (Tie) to Liberia and when they arrived there, another man brought them to a village in Mount Barclay.
However after one month there, they found that there was still no job.
Insp Badrul Iskandar prosecuted the case.
