KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — An assistant manager of a luxury watch shop pleaded not guilty in three Sessions Courts here today to 44 charges of receiving and transferring money from illegal activities involving a loss of RM1.7 million.
Miki Oshiro, 36, a local citizen, made the plea after all the charges against him were read out before Judges Izralizam Sanusi, Azrul Darus and Norma Ismail.
According to the first to 44th charges, the man is accused of having received RM1.7 million from a 61-year-old female customer and then transferred money from illegal activities totaling RM628,499 from his savings account to the bank accounts of several other individuals and companies.
All the offences were allegedly committed at two banks in Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya, between Oct 5, 2024 and Jan 3, 2025.
The charges are under Paragraph 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 [Act 613] which carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount or value of the proceeds of illegal activities or instrumentalities of the offence at the time the offence was committed or RM5 million, whichever is higher, if convicted.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Mohd Izham Mohd Marzuki offered bail of RM15,000 with one surety with additional conditions that the accused is prohibited from interfering with prosecution witnesses and reporting once a month to the Bukit Aman Money Laundering Criminal Investigation Division (AMLA) near here, until the case is resolved.
“The accused has no risk of absconding because his passport has been kept by the court for the offences he was previously accused of and I request the court to also take into account the fact that the offence committed has an impact on the country’s economy and banking system,” he said, assisted by deputy public prosecutor P. Sangari.
Lawyer S. Narasimhan, who represented the accused, applied for a low bail on the grounds that his client was not at risk of absconding and was still supporting his elderly mother.
The court allowed the accused bail of RM105,000 with one surety along with an additional condition to report to the AMLA Criminal Investigation Division, Bukit Aman once a month until the case is resolved and set Feb 27 for mention of the case.
On Feb 21, 2025, Miki and another individual were charged in two Sessions Courts and the Magistrate’s Court here on five counts of defrauding four individuals in the sale of luxury watches worth more than RM2 million. — Bernama
