JOHOR BARU: Three men have been charged in the Sessions Court here with illegally storing nearly 13,000 litres of diesel.
Lee Kok Chek, 45, along with Indonesians Hendrik Dwi Setyawan, 38, and Maulana Bachrudin, 28, pleaded not guilty when they were jointly charged before judge Datuk Che Wan Zaidi Che Wan Ibrahim on Monday (April 27).
They are accused of storing 12,789 litres of diesel in a tanker without a prime mover, as well as 89 litres in an intermediate bulk container tank, without approval from a supply controller.
The offences were allegedly committed at premises at Taman Mount Austin here at 4.09am on Thursday (April 23).
The charges were framed under Section 20(1) of the Control of Supplies Act 1961 and punishable under Section 22(1) of the same Act, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code for common intention.
If convicted, those accused may be fined up to RM1mil or jailed for up to three years, or both.
Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry prosecuting officer Nur Sulehan Abd Rahman requested bail of RM100,000 for Lee and offered no bail for the foreign nationals, citing flight risk as they did not have valid identification documents.
Lee’s lawyer Mohamad Azrulsani Othman asked for lower bail, saying that his client works as a farmer on a tapioca plantation and earns about RM2,000 a month.
The court allowed bail of RM10,000 with one surety for Lee, and denied bail to the two foreigners, who were unrepresented.
It then fixed June 3 for next mention pending submission of chemist reports.
