Aged between 23 and 38, the group of 355 men and 28 women were charged under Section 6(1)(C) of Malaysia’s Immigration Act 1959/63 and liable under Section 6(3) of the Act.

The Act provides for a fine not exceeding RM10,000 (US$2,416), a jail term of up to five years or both with whipping of not more than six strokes.

They were found without a valid travel pass on November 20 at about 3.30pm at the premises of Malaysian House of Internet Sdn Bhd at Wisma Mustapha Kamal at Jalan Usahawan in Cyberjaya.

Four interpreters from the Immigration Department were appointed to read out the charges to the accused, out of which only some were represented.

Out of the 373 who were accused, 52 will have their cases re-mentioned on January 10 pending passport checks and submission.

The remaining 321 pleaded guilty, with 290 sentenced to four months in jail from the date of arrest.

Thirty-one of them were fined RM5,000 (US$1,208) in default of four months’ jail.

The prosecution was led by Immigration Department prosecution unit head Kasthuri Bai Venugopal with Suhaimi Abdullah, Nazwan Hassan, Asrizal Azman, Rueben Raj, Fadzil Shahabudin and Nur Ayunis Shairah.

Kasthuri asked for a deterrent sentence considering their ignorance of the rule of law in Malaysia despite frequent operations by the department to weed out illegal immigrants.

Another 153 of those arrested during the operation will be charged at the same court on Monday.

The group was operating from a six-storey building in Cyberjaya when the November 20 raid took place.

It was the result of a month’s surveillance following complaints from the public.

The office was well secured, with guards stationed at each floor and rooms only being accessible with access cards.

It is believed that the group has been operating in Malaysia for around six months and that the building was being used as a call centre.

Investigations showed that the group targeted victims in China by offering fast, profitable returns in their investment scams.

They were found to have entered the country via social visit passes. Nearly all could not produce their passports after being arrested.

Dozens more Chinese arrested in Malaysia’s Ipoh over online scams

Meanwhile, police arrested 18 Chinese nationals for allegedly being involved in online gambling at a house in Lahat.

Perak police chief Comm Datuk Razarudin Husain said that about 46 mobile phones, 16 laptops and RM734 were seized in the raid on Thursday that saw 14 men and four women being arrested.

“We believe that they are operating an online gambling syndicate targeting the market in China, and we believe they are using WeChat to make transactions,” he told reporters after a shooting event held in conjunction with the Police 212th Memorial Day here on Friday.

He added that these arrests are unrelated to the arrests of 65 people by the Immigration Department on Wednesday, following an earlier raid by the Department which resulted in the arrests of 40 Chinese nationals.

Comm Razarudin said he believes that the operation started about two weeks ago.

“Based on the items seized and similar raids done in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, we believe that they moved here to continue their operations. Right now, our target is to ensure there are no more cases like this in the state,” he said.

Comm Razarudin said that officers will be conducting surveillance at certain areas in Manjung, Taiping and other districts to address this issue.

Read the original articles at The Star Online, here and here.