Accused in Cambodia job scam pleads not guilty, out on bail of RM8k

SIBU: A 25-year-old man has been released on a total bail of RM8,000 in four sureties by two magistrate's courts in Kuching after he pleaded not guilty to two charges of cheating in the Cambodia job scam.

At the first magistrate's court on Thursday (May 2), the accused, Mohd Ghafar Abd Jamal from Kampung Salak, Kuching, was charged under Section 415 (b) of the Penal Code and which is punishable under Section 417 of the same Code.

The offence provides for a jail sentence of up to five years or a fine or both if convicted.

Magistrate Nuruhuda Mohd Yusof, in releasing him on bail of RM5,000 in two sureties, also ordered that the passport of the accused be impounded until the case was over.

She fixed May 25 for case management.

At another magistrate's court, the accused also pleaded not guilty to the charge of cheating.

He was released on a bail of RM3,000 in two sureties.

Magistrate Mohd Syukri Mokhtar ordered the accused to report to the nearest police station every two weeks.

Case management has been fixed for June 13.

Mohd Ghafar was nabbed at 12.20pm on April 25 when the plane he was flying in from Pontianak, Indonesia, touched down at Kuching International Airport.

He was sought for allegedly cheating five persons in the Cambodia job scam case that saw 47 Malaysians being detained at the Banteay Meanchey Provincial Prison, Cambodia. Forty of them are from Sarawak.

The victims of the scam had applied for work in Cambodia through various social media networks between October and November, 2018 and even transferred a deposit into a bank account.

All were released after successful negotiations between Wisma Putra and the Cambodian government and returned home on Feb 17.

Meanwhile, Sarawak Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) chief Supt Mustafa Kamal Gani Abdullah said police arrested six persons in the case.

Two have been charged in the court so far. The other person was 25-year-old cook, Chang Ying Shiong, who was charged under Section 415(b) of the Penal Code at the magistrate's court in Kuching on March 12.