Five men charged with operating money lending business without licence

KUALA LUMPUR: Five men were charged in the Sessions Court here today with three counts of conducting money lending business without a valid licence since August last year.

The accused are Chong Chee Siong, 28, Tan Kim Tai, 26, Chin Yong Xuan, 23, Sia Ming Yang, 32, and Chong Chee Kim, 24, and all of them pleaded not guilty to the charges before judge M Bakri Abd Majid.

For all three charges, they were jointly alleged to have provided loans amounting to RM6,300 with interest to three individuals at a condominium unit at Jalan Kuching, Taman Wahyu, here between Aug 16 and Oct 19 this year,

The charges, framed under Section 5(2) of the Moneylenders Act 1951 and read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, provide a maximum fine of RM1 million or imprisonment for up to five years, or both, if found guilty.

The court allowed them bail of RM40,000 for all charges in one surety each. They were also ordered to surrender their passports to the court.

Deputy public prosecutor Zulaaikha (rpt:Zulaaikha) Mohd Apandi prosecuted, while lawyer Luqman Hakim Azhar represented all the accused.

The court set Nov 21 for mention.

-- BERNAMA