JOHOR BARU: Twenty foreigners pleaded not guilty to charges of deceiving victims at the Johor Baru magistrate's court today.
The accused, comprised of one Taiwanese national, Wu Wen Jung, and 19 Chinese nationals He Ne, Guang Liang, Jin Yi Hao, Zhang Wei, Liu Zhi Rong, Li Ya Xuan, Ran You, Zhang Shi Han, Zhao Run Qiang, Lu Ye Ri, Li Peng, Yu Liang, Liu Bing, Liu Lin, Li Jua Gang, Chen Kui Peng, Zhi Xiao Bo, Zhao Ke Yu, and Wang Yin Cheng.
Aged between 21 and 36, they made their pleas before magistrate Hidayatul Syuhada Shamsudin after the charges were read to them in Mandarin.
According to the charge sheet, they conspired to commit a crime by deceiving victims through a "love scam" and fraudulently encouraging victims to hand over money.
The offences occurred jointly on Sept 23 at Jalan Saujana 2, Horizon Hill in Iskandar Puteri around 12.30pm.
They are charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which can be punished with imprisonment of up to six months, a fine, or both.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Navina Ravichandran appeared for the prosecution while all the accused were represented by lawyers Goh Sze Han and Ahmad Yusri Ahmad Fuad.
The court set bail at RM8,000 for each accused with two local sureties and required them to report to the nearest police station once a month.
The next hearing for document submission is scheduled for Nov 18.
Johor police chief Datuk M. Kumar said in a statement today that all the accused were arrested on Sept 23 during a raid at a residence in Horizon Hill which was suspected to be a "call centre" for non-existent job offers.
He said the suspects are believed to be involved in online job scam activities targeting foreign nationals.