PORT DICKSON: Thirty-six Chinese nationals have been jointly charged in the Magistrate's Court here with criminal conspiracy against their fellow countrymen by getting them to invest in non-existent investment schemes.
No plea was recorded from the accused after they were charged before Magistrate Mohd Farez Rahman on Tuesday (Sept 2) as they do not understand Bahasa Malaysia.
The accused are aged between 22 and 39, are charged with operating an online call centre to scam Chinese nationals and five of the accused are women.
They are charged with committing the offence at a house in Taman Tanjung, near here, at around 3.30pm on Aug 21.
The foreigners are charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 120B(2) of the same legislation.
If convicted, offenders can be jailed for up to six months, fined or both.
Lawyer Chang Kai Ping, representing the accused, asked the court to allow bail as they had been in police custody for 13 days.
However, deputy public prosecutor Azriff Firdaus Mohamad Ali objected to bail as the accused were a flight risk.
He said checks with Immigration revealed their travel passes had either expired or did not exist.
"We have also received a letter from the Chinese embassy stating their travel documents have been revoked due to offences in their country of origin.
Also, the accused have failed to provide any document to prove what they were doing here or any address of their relatives," he said.
Magistrate Mohd Farez said that to be granted bail, a foreigner must have a valid travel document, a local contact address, and two locals as sureties.
"Since none of you can meet those conditions, bail is hereby denied," he said, adding that the accused were a flight risk.
He then fixed Sept 12 for mention and to secure the services of a Mandarin interpreter.
During the raid on Aug 21, police also seized 94 mobile phones, 36 laptops and related items worth about RM220,000.
