KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 — A woman was held for 42 days to facilitate investigations into a total of 136 cheating complaints, the police said today, after her family questioned her lengthy detention without her being taken to court.

Commercial Crimes director Datuk Seri Amar Singh Ishar Singh said Rosemary Anak Ginam, director of travel company Dulcet Travel and Tours Sdn Bhd, was detained for investigations over a missing sum of almost RM2.3 million from its bank account.

"Rosemary Anak Ginam was arrested on July 18 to help police investigations due to her involvement as the director of the travel company, the signatory to the bank account in which victims had made deposits and was traced as the individual who made withdrawals from the bank account,” he said in a media statement.

He said the allegations of cheating dated back to March this year.

"Police made the arrest to facilitate investigations into all 136 police reports filed by victims nationwide,” he said.

Amar added that the police are recommending charges against Rosemary.

He was responding to a news report in The Star earlier today citing the detainee’s husband, Hasan Jambai, who accused the police of violating his wife’s human rights by holding her for such a lengthy period without pressing charges.

Lawyers, who accompanied Hasan to file a complaint with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, claimed the police were abusing the legal process to detain Rosemary, a mother of three, far longer than the maximum seven-day limit allowed by each remand application.