Former financial administrative assistant claims trial to 2 charges of money laundering

Kuching Court Complex (File Photo)

By Dorcas Ting

KUCHING, Aug 8: A former financial administrative assistant of a government agency pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court today to two charges of money laundering involving a total amount of RM899,283.

Mohd Zairull Arzuan Mohd Shamsuddin Ja’afar@Ang Chui Thong, 38, entered the plea after being charged under Subsection 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Act 613), which is punishable under the same subsection of the Act.

Judge Musli Ab Hamid ordered the accused to be released on bail of RM80,000 with two local sureties and set the case management for Oct 17, 2024.

For the first charge, he is accused of committing money laundering in stages between Jan 4, 2020, and December 22, 2020, involving the amount of RM504,983.

The accused faces a second charge for the same offense involving RM394,300 between Jan 28, 2021, and December 19, 2021.

Both offenses are alleged to have been committed at a bank on Jalan Song Thian Cheok here.

Additionally, according to previous reports, the accused in March 2024 also pleaded not guilty to 31 charges of money laundering and three charges of criminal breach of trust involving more than RM15 million.

The money laundering charges were made under Subsection 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Act 613) and are punishable under the same subsection of the Act, involving RM4,734,221.13.

For the remaining three charges, the accused was charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code for criminal breach of trust involving RM10,272,350.13.

The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutors Wan Nur Amanina Wan Din and Mohd Ashrof Kamarul, while the accused was represented by lawyers Christopher Bada and Ralph Lee. — DayakDaily