A Bangladeshi man pleaded not guilty at the Magistrate’s Court here today to a charge of unlawfully possessing 11 passports belonging to other Bangladeshi nationals.
The accused, Salman Mallik, 49, denied the charge after it was read before Magistrate Nor Hamizah Mat Shah through an interpreter.
According to the charge, Salman was found in possession of 11 Bangladeshi passports issued to other individuals without lawful authority to hold the travel documents.
The alleged offence took place at Salimun Enterprise in Taman Senangin at about 7pm on June 27.
He was charged under Section 12(1)(f) of the Passports Act 1966, which carries a maximum fine of RM10,000, imprisonment of up to five years, or both upon conviction.
Deputy Public Prosecutor S Preeyaa appeared for the prosecution, while the accused was represented by lawyer Lim Sheng Zhe.
The court granted Salman bail of RM4,000 with two Malaysian sureties and fixed Sept 13 for the next case mention.
The accused later posted bail at the Kulim Court Complex and produced two local citizens as sureties.
The case follows an earlier police investigation involving the accused, who was allegedly found to have exploited his 69-year-old Malaysian wife, who is paralysed, by registering three companies under her name to facilitate applications for foreign worker permits.
Police previously alleged that the suspect, who was also believed to be a registered Immigration Department agent, used his position to provide fraudulent work permits to foreign nationals.
