BUTTERWORTH: A managing director and a chief executive officer of an investment company were charged at two separate Sessions Courts here today on 60 counts of accepting deposits without a valid licence amounting to RM750,000 for investment purposes between 2019 and 2020.
Mohd Nasri Abdul Rahim, 36, and Abdul Wahab S. Mohd Mydin, 53 pleaded not guilty to all charges before Judge Noor Aini Yusof and Judge Norhayati Mohamad Yunus.
Before Noor Aini, Mohd Nasri faced 19 charges of accepting deposits without a valid licence and three charges for committing the offence while abetting Abdul Wahab.
Abdul Wahab was accused of one count of accepting deposits without a valid licence and 10 counts of abetting Mohd Nasri to commit the offence.
The charges were framed under Section 137 (1) of the Financial Services Act 2013, punishable under Section 137 (2) of the same Act which carries a jail term of up to 10 years or a fine of up to RM50 million or both if convicted, while the abetting charges were read together with Section 109 of the Penal Code.
According to the charge sheet, Mohd Nasri and Abdul Wahab were accused of accepting cash deposits for investment purposes between April 2019 and February 2020 from three victims at various banks in Penang and one in Selangor.
The court fixed August 1 for mention and set bail at RM117,000 for all charges with one surety for Mohd Nasri.
The court also set bail at RM71,000 for all charges with one surety for Abdul Wahab and ordered both of them to surrender their passports to the court.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Nur Fazliyana Ahmad requested RM10,000 bail for each of the charges for Mohd Nasri and Abdul Wahab.
Mohd Nasri, represented by lawyer S. Raveentharan, asked for a lower bail because his client has diabetes and high blood pressure, lawyer Muhamad Sharulnizam Md Roni, representing Abdul Wahab said his client is married with five children and has heart disease, severe back, and gastric pain.
Meanwhile, in Norhayati’s court, Mohd Nasri was charged with 11 accounts of accepting deposits without a valid licence at the same time and place.
At the same court, Abdul Wahab was charged with 19 counts, one for accepting deposits without a valid licence and 18 counts for committing the offence while abetting Mohd Nasri.
The charges were framed under Section 137 (1) of the Financial Services Act 2013, punishable under Section 137 (2) of the same Act which carries a jail term of up to 10 years or a fine of up to RM50 million or both if convicted, and the abetting charges were read together with Section 109 of the Penal Code.
Deputy public prosecutor Qatrin Harun asked for bail to be set at RM10,000 for each charge against Mohd Nasri but Raveentharan requested a lower bail, citing the same reasons in Noor Aini’s court.
Qatrin also urged the court to set bail at RM10,000 per charge against Abdul Wahab but Muhamad Sharulnizam told the court that his client was facing 11 charges at a separate court and cited the same reasons for lower bail.
The court set bail at RM5,000 per charge amounting to RM55,000 with one surety for Mohd Nasri and RM5,000 per charge totalling RM95,000 with one surety for Abdul Wahab.
The court also fixed August 1 for mention pending submission of documents. — Bernama
