TAWAU: A businesswoman pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here to three charges of accepting public deposits without a licence last year.
The deposits are said for gold investment purposes, amounting to over RM5 million.
The accused, Norhafizah Abbas, 30, entered her plea after the charges were read out by the interpreter before Judge Rosli Ahmad.
According to the first charge, the woman is accused of accepting cash deposits from the public at Lot No B5, Level 1, Gaya Commercial Centre, Jalan Guru, between May 30 and July 20 last year.
For the second charge, the accused is alleged to have accepted deposits from the public through online money transfers to a Maybank current account belonging to Abbas Family Enterprise and another savings account in her own name at Maybank Islamic Berhad, Jalan Mahkamah Fajar Complex, between May 21 and June 17 last year.
The third charge involves the accused allegedly accepting deposits from the public via online money transfers to a Public Bank savings account belonging to Zerina Collection and an account under Zerina Collection Sdn Bhd at the same bank in Fajar Complex from May 23 to July 14 of the same year.
All charges are framed under Section 137(1) of the Financial Services Act 2013 (Act 758) read together with Section 137(2) of the same Act for the offence of accepting deposits without holding a valid license under Section 10 of the Act.
If convicted, the accused faces a penalty of imprisonment for up to 10 years, a maximum fine of RM50 million, or both.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Syahnidzam Ahmad did not offer bail, but if granted, he proposed a bail amount of RM10,000 for each charge, with two local sureties, along with additional conditions including monthly police reporting, surrendering her passport to the court, refraining from contacting any witnesses, and attending all court mentions.
However, the unrepresented accused requested a reduction in bail, citing her current seven-month pregnancy, three young children, her husband's unemployment, and the freezing of all her bank accounts.
The court subsequently granted bail of RM30,000 for all charges with the additional conditions requested by the prosecution and set Aug 22 for case management and further mention.
On Dec 27, media reports indicated that over 300 individuals suffered millions in losses after being deceived by a gold investment company operating in the area.
All affected victims claimed they were promised substantial returns as 'Gold Investment Partners', with RM25 per gram or 5 to 15 per cent over 10 days based on the investment amount.
However, victims not only failed to receive the promised returns, but some also lost mortgaged land, sold assets, or withdrew savings to invest.