KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 — A company director and his wife in Penang today claimed trial to laundering over RM15 million in connection with the high-profile Genneva gold trading business that had sent 13 others into the dock in September.

Joseph Kow Hock Beng, 55, and his wife Veronica Tan, 52, were slapped with a total of 122 counts of money laundering at the Sessions Court in Penang, The Star Online reported, in connection with Genneva Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

Kow was hit with 44 charges of money laundering amounting to RM7,970,442.84 between March 18, 2011 and September 21, 2012 while Tan claimed trial to 37 charges of money laundering a sum totalling RM7,815,082.67 between March 18, 2011 and December 31, 2012.

A total of six companies in which either husband and wife were directors were also named in the charge sheet. The news portal listed them as: J Emerald Sdn Bhd, Agensi Pekerjaan AJ Utama Sdn Bhd, KHB Global Sdn Bhd, Parcel Post (M) Sdn Bhd, Logistik Hartamas (M) Sdn Bhd and CFM Logistics Sdn Bhd.

The penalties for money laundering are severe. If convicted, husband and wife could be fined up to RM5 million or jailed a maximum of five years or both for each offence under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001.

Lawyers B. Jeyasingam and Ong Yu Shin, who represented Kow and Tan, pleaded that bail be allowed, saying the couple had been cooperative in investigations by the central bank and other agencies since October last year.

The lawyers claimed Kow suffered from health problems and did not have high-paying salaries that afforded a comfortable financial situation, highlighting that the bank accounts for both husband and wife, as well as their companies, had been frozen by Bank Negara Malaysia since then as well even though neither were part of the management or shareholders of the companies.

Sessions Court judge Khairul Anuar Abdul Halim allowed bail for the couple, who are parents to three children with the youngest still schooling, setting it at RM50,000 each in one surety.

Kow and Tan were also ordered to surrender their passports.

The judge also ruled to transfer the case to the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court to be heard together with a whopping 927 other Genneva-related cases, The Star Online reported. 

The Genneva gold scheme had gained prominence a couple of years ago following its promotion by prominent political and business figures. 

The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court acquitted last May Genneva Sdn Bhd directors Ng Poh Weng, Datuk Marcus Yee Yuen Seng, Datuk Chin Wai Leong, and former director Liew Chee Wah of money-laundering and illegal deposit-taking charges, ruling that they had carried out a genuine gold trading business.

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said in response that it would appeal against the ruling, saying that investigations against Genneva had been taken after the bank received complaints from the public.

BNM also noted that Genneva Sdn Bhd and Genneva Malaysia Sdn Bhd are separate entities.

The central bank raided Genneva four years ago over a dubious gold trading scheme. Genneva Malaysia and its affiliates were similarly raided last October.

BNM had frozen Genneva Malaysia’s cheques, accounts and other assets worth RM99.8 million in cash, as well as seizing 126kg in gold bullion, based on suspicions that the company had broken several banking and financial laws, such as money-laundering, taking deposits without giving gold in return, appointing agents without license, evading taxes, failing to file statutory documents, giving false descriptions on its business, and misrepresenting itself as an investment firm.

Last December, nine investors sued Genneva Malaysia and four of its directors — Tengku Muhaini Sultan Ahmad Shah, Philip Lim Jit Meng, Ahmad Khairuddin Ilias and Tan Lian Keng — in an attempt to recover RM2 million in investments.

They claimed that the company had committed fraud and misrepresented the gold scheme as complying with syariah law.

Malaysia does not regulate the gold trading business and BNM’s raid following complaints last year and seized several hundred kilogrammes of gold bullion, which had seen a roaring trade among Malaysians of all economic backgrounds in a bid to earn fast cash.