Two gold miners charged with cheating govt out of RM1.3mil in royalty payments

KOTA KINABALU: Two gold miners have been charged with cheating the state government of over RM1.3mil in royalties between 2019 and 2023.

Lo Fui Ming and his son Lo Teck Yong were slapped with a total of 24 charges allegedly committed during this period, and both pleaded not guilty to the charges before Sessions Court Judge Jason Juga at the Special Corruptions Court here on Wednesday (Oct 25).

According to the facts of the case, the two men were accused of cheating the state government through the Land and Surveys Department for allegedly declaring incomplete items sold in their gold mining project.

The mining was done at Bukit Mantri in the Tawau district.

The duo were alleged to have sold gold bars illegally to another company and did not include these sales into their invoice and report to the state government.

The duo were supposed to pay a 5% royalty to the government for the sales of gold mined from Bukit Mantri in Tawau.

It is believed that Lo and Teck Yong had sold a total of 26 gold bars illegally to other companies, and these sales were not recorded.

The failure to declare these sales had resulted in the government losing some RM1.3mil in royalties between 2019 and 2023.

The accused were represented by lawyer Zahir Shah, while deputy public prosecutor Lim Wai Keong prosecuted.

Lo and Teck Yong were allowed a bail of RM100,000 each with a local surety, and to have their international passports surrendered to the court until their case is over.

The judge fixed Dec 8 for the next mention.