KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 — A consultant for a gold investment company, Genneva (M) Sdn Bhd, was charged in the Sessions Court here today with abetting in illegal deposit-taking, involving RM5.5 billion, two years ago.

However, Datuk Joseph Kow Hock Beng, 55, pleaded not guilty to the charge of abetting Genneva in accepting the deposit from the public without a valid licence through a scheme, which involved gold transactions, through two CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad current accounts.

He was charged with committing the offence at Jalan Kuchai Maju 6, Off Jalan Kuchai Lama here between January 10, 2011 and October 1, 2012.

The charge, under Section 112(1)(c) of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989, read together with Section 25(1) and sentenced according to Section 103(1)(a), carries a maximum fine of RM10 million or a jail term of 10 years or both, if found guilty.

Deputy public prosecutor Fahmi Abd Moin, from Bank Negara Fahmi, offered bail at RM1 million in one surety, but lawyer Datuk Ghazi Ishak, representing Kow, requested the bail to be reduced to RM50,000 because all the assets belonging to his client had been frozen.

Judge Mat Ghani Abdullah then allowed Kow bail of RM200,000 in one surety and also ordered him to surrender his passport to the court.

The court set November 27 for case management and April 7 to 24 next year for hearing of the case which would be heard together with another of Kow’s case in Penang, but had been transferred to the Sessions Court here.

On October 30 this year, Kow and his wife were charged in the Penang Sessions Court with 81 counts of money laundering, involving more than RM15 million in cash, checks and gold bars, over one-and-a-half year period. — Bernama