Ipoh: A former senior manager of a multinational company was charged in the Magistrate's Court here today with two counts of dishonestly receiving and concealing money totaling more than RM1.4 million belonging to an Indonesian company three years ago. However, N V Vemal, 36, pleaded not guilty to both charges after they were read out before Magistrate S Punitha.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the first charge accuses the defendant of dishonestly receiving stolen property by accepting cash amounting to RM1,479,289.94 into his Maybank account, knowing that the money belonged to PT Parit Sembada, a subsidiary of Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad, and was stolen property. This charge is framed under Section 411 of the Penal Code, carrying a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment, or a fine, or both, upon conviction.

For the second charge, the accused is charged with dishonestly concealing property by transferring RM1,082,005 from a Maybank account in his name to a company's account, despite knowing that the money belonged to PT Parit Sembada, a subsidiary of Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad. The second charge is under Section 424 of the Penal Code, which also carries a maximum sentence of five years' imprisonment, or a fine, or both, upon conviction. Both offences were allegedly committed at a Maybank branch at Jalan Sultan Idris Shah here on September 29, 2023.

The prosecution was led by deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Zulqarnain Wan Asmira, who proposed a bail of RM15,000 for both charges, with an additional condition that the accused surrender his passport to the court, as he was previously detected in Indonesia. Meanwhile, defence counsels Gurbachan Singh and Aashwini Rajan informed the court that their client was currently unemployed and had no income. However, they did not object to the bail amount proposed by the prosecution and stated that the accused would surrender his passport.

The court subsequently set bail at RM7,000 for both charges and fixed March 19 for mention of the case.