Four Chinese nationals have been charged at the Sessions Court here with kidnapping a Singaporean man for a ransom of SGD1 million (RM3.1 million) in July.
Liu Ting Jun, 46, Guan Siqi, 24, Huang Jian, 39, and Wang Hao Yu, 32, were jointly charged with two other individuals who are still at large and two others who have since died.
All four pleaded not guilty after the charges were read to them in Mandarin before Sessions Court Judge Ahzal Fariz Ahmad Khairuddin.
They were accused of jointly kidnapping and unlawfully confining Singaporean national Quek Aik Teng, using passport number K5856937Z.
The offence allegedly took place at about 4.15pm on July 26 at Penang International Airport (PIA) in Bayan Lepas.
The four were charged under Section 3(1) of the Kidnapping Act 1961, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, and punishable under Section 3(1) of the same Act.
If convicted, they face between 30 and 40 years in prison and caning.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ikmal Affendi Zulkifly handled the prosecution, while Guan, Huang and Wang were represented by lawyer Azizul Hilmi Zulkifli. Liu was represented by Edward Ng.
The prosecution did not offer bail for any of the accused.
During mitigation, Edward acknowledged the seriousness of the charge but asked the court to exercise its discretion in allowing his client to be released on bail.
He said Liu had fully cooperated with police throughout his detention and had a distant relative married to a Malaysian who is currently working in the country.
“His relative is capable of acting as a bailor for the accused, and the accused also has no previous criminal record,” he said.
Azizul, representing the other three accused, also urged the court to grant them bail.
He acknowledged that the charge under Section 3(1) of the Kidnapping Act 1961 was serious but asked the court to consider the accused’s personal circumstances.
He said all three were prepared to surrender their passports to the court, report regularly to a police station and refrain from contacting any prosecution witnesses or the alleged victim.
“They are prepared to comply with any additional conditions imposed by this honourable court. Therefore, we ask that the court exercise its discretion to allow the accused to be released on bail at an appropriate amount,” he said.
The prosecution, however, urged the court to reject the bail applications, arguing that the offence was serious and involved public interest.
Ikmal said checks on the accused’s passports were still being carried out and Immigration Department confirmation had yet to be obtained.
“I therefore ask that the bail applications be rejected, Your Honour,” he said.
After hearing submissions from both sides, Ahzal rejected the bail applications.
The case was fixed for Oct 15 for the submission of documents.
Earlier, media reports said police shot dead two foreign nationals in Alor Setar, Kedah, last Saturday.
The suspects were believed to be members of a kidnapping syndicate targeting foreigners by luring them with job offers or holiday opportunities after making contact through dating apps and social media.
Police also arrested five men and a woman believed to be involved in the kidnapping during a raid on a house in Taman Amira, Alor Setar.
Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk M Kumar said the raid was carried out at about 8.40pm last Saturday by a team from the Bukit Aman CID’s Special Investigation Division (D9).
He said the operation followed a police report lodged on Aug 6 by a 73-year-old Singaporean woman, who claimed that her 72-year-old sibling had been kidnapped in Malaysia.
