Decade-old scheme: Company director charged with cheating 3 Singaporeans, Malaysian

JOHOR BAHRU: A Singapore-based company director pleaded not guilty in the Johor Bahru Sessions Court on Tuesday (Aug 12) to four charges of cheating three Singaporeans and a Malaysian of RM155,000 in a company investment scheme a decade ago.

Chong Kok Ming, 54, a Singapore permanent resident, is jointly accused with a Singaporean man still at large of deceiving Lim Swee Chong, Lim Swee Joo, Ho Sang Bin and Puah Kot Choon into depositing money into the account of a Malaysian-registered company.

The accused allegedly made false promises, inducing the victims to believe they would be registered as shareholders in a local company and entitled to annual dividends.

Losses amounted to RM71,250 each for Lim Swee Chong and Lim Swee Joo, and RM6,250 each for Ho Sang Bin and Puah Kot Choon.

The alleged offences took place at a bank in Jalan Cengal, Taman Makmur, Batu Pahat, on Oct 15, 2014.

He was charged under Section 417 of the Penal Code, read with Section 34, which carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both upon conviction.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy public prosecutor Chan Lee proposed a bail of RM15,000 for each charge.

Chong’s lawyer, K Veeranesh, sought a lower sum, citing his client’s monthly income of SGD10,000 and the fact that he supports his wife and two children, aged 21 and 25.

Judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Arifin Ismail set bail at RM20,000 in total for all charges, with one surety, and fixed Sept 17 for case mention.