KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — The assistant manager of a luxury watch shop pleaded not guilty in three Sessions Courts 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, he is accused of having received RM1.7 million from a 61-year-old customer and then transferred RM628,499 from illegal activities 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 October 5, 2024 and January 3 last year.
The charges are under Paragraph 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, 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 the additional condition that the accused is prohibited from interfering with prosecution witnesses and from reporting to the Bukit Aman Money Laundering Criminal Investigation Division (AMLA) once a month, 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 Miki, applied for bail at a low amount on the grounds that his client was not at risk of absconding and was still supporting his elderly mother.
The court allowed bail of RM105,000 with one surety, with the additional condition that the accused report to the AMLA Criminal Investigation Division, Bukit Aman, once a month until the case is resolved, and set February 27 for mention of the case.
On February 21 last year, Miki and another individual were charged in two Sessions Courts and the Magistrate's Court on five counts of defrauding four individuals in the sale of luxury watches worth more than RM2 million.
