Three sisters, man charged with exploiting 35 foreign women in Melaka

MELAKA: Three sisters and a man claimed trial at the Sessions Court in Ayer Keroh here to a total of 56 charges for alleged exploitation of 35 Indonesian and Cambodian women.

The accused Ee Hwei Ping, 38; Ee Hwei Shan, 33; and Ee Hwei Ting, 34, were charged together with their male accomplice Koh Chee Pin, 38 before judge Norma Ismail on Monday (Dec 21).

The sisters faced 35 charges for allegedly holding 32 Indonesians and three Cambodians, aged between 18 and 40, against their will.

Koh, who is the husband of Hwei Shan, also to pleaded not guilty to 21 charges against him.

All four faced the charges under Section 12 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007.

If found guilty, they could face a maximum jail sentence of 15 years and a fine.

Koh also faced a charge under Section 109 of the Penal Code for abetting with the three sisters in exploiting the women.

Based on the charge sheets, all four had allegedly committed the offences at 10.30pm, between March to November 2020 at Taman Merbok, Bukit Katil, here.

All four were represented by counsel Faiezad Razali.

The court imposed a fine of RM40,000 with one surety for each of the offences and ordered their international passports to be surrendered to the court, as well as ordering all four to report themselves to the nearest police station until the end of the court proceedings.

The court also fixed Jan 15,2021, as the re-mention date.

On Sunday (Dec 20), police said they rescued migrant workers, employed as cleaning maids in Melaka and Selangor.

Bukit Aman CID chief Huzir Mohamed said a Cambodian woman and 32 Indonesians were rescued in Melaka Tengah, while two Indonesian women were rescued in Selangor.

The victims had been working as home cleaners with a cleaning service agency in Melaka since 2018.

The four accused were released on bail.