Company Director Charged With Using Property For Money Laundering

SEREMBAN, Dec 18 (Bernama) -- A company director pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court today to two charges of using her building for money laundering activities last year.

Cheong Yin Ying, 39, entered the plea after the charges were read separately to her before Judge Mohamad Kamil Nizam.

She was accused of direct involvement in using the property and its contents, owned by her company, located at Jalan Perindustrian Mantin 1 and 2, Kawasan Perindustrian Ringan Mantin, to conduct illegal activities on Dec 15, 2023.

She was charged under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Act 613). 

The offence is punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment and a fine of not less than five times the amount or value of the illegal proceeds or the equipment used in committing the offence, or RM5 million, whichever is higher, upon conviction.

Deputy public prosecutor Natasha Chin requested the court to set bail at RM50,000 for both charges.

However, Cheong’s lawyer, Amirul Fairuzzeen Jamaluddin, requested the court to apply the same sum as in a previous case against his client in the same court.

"Therefore, for this case, I request the court to set the same bail amount. The accused has already surrendered her passport on Dec 5 and reports monthly to the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living," he said.

Mohamad Kamil then set bail at RM15,000 with one surety for both charges and scheduled a case mention for Jan 6 next year.

On Dec 5, Cheong and her husband, Ooi Joe Behn, 41, pleaded not guilty in the same court to 14 charges of receiving RM3.7 million in illegal proceeds between 2021 and 2023.

Cheong and Ooi were granted bail at RM60,000 and RM40,000, respectively, with one surety each.

-- BERNAMA