SEREMBAN: A 28-year-old kopitiam employee and four Myanmar nationals were charged for illegally possessing an estimated 25,070kg of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is a controlled item.
Chong Ming Fei claimed trial to the charge before Sessions Court judge Mohamad Kamil Nizam while no plea was recorded from the foreigners identified as Mang Zaw, Aung, Naing and Lin as they did not understand Bahasa Malaysia.
The five were jointly charged with another suspect still at large with having in their possession 1,255 LPG cylinders without a valid licence.
The offence was allegedly committed at about 4am on Aug 2 at an unnumbered premises along Jalan Tampin-Senawang.
Chong also claimed trial to another charge of being in possession of 36,471 litres of diesel, which is also a controlled item.
The alleged offence was committed at around 5pm at an unnumbered premises in Rantau near here on May 14.
All five accused were charged under Section 21(1) of the Control of Supplies Act 1961, which is punishable under Section 22(1) of the same Act.
Offenders can be fined up to RM1mil or up to three years jail or both, upon conviction.
Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry deputy public prosecutor Nor Alimah Mohd Sanusi offered Chong bail of RM20,000 for each charge.
"We are not offering bail to the foreigners as they did not have valid identification documents and are a flight risk," she said.
Chong, who was unrepresented, pleaded for a minimum bail as he only earned RM2,500 a month and had to provide for a younger sibling who is still schooling.
Mohamad Kamil then allowed Chong bail of RM18,000 for both charges while the foreigners were offered RM15,000 bail with one surety, who had to be a Malaysian.
All the accused were also ordered to report to the state Domestic Trade and Cost of Living office once a month until the case is disposed of, to surrender their passport to the court and not to contact witnesses.
The court fixed Oct 16 for next mention.
