GEORGE TOWN: Eight people, including an Indonesian national, were jointly charged at the magistrate's court here today with managing a gambling house.
Lee Yee Ling, 34, Chong Jia Seong, 22, Yeoh Eng Wah, 31, Aw Yong Chee Hsien, 29, Tan Kuan Yang, 39, Chew Boon Leng, 25, Ng Chin Keat, 25, and Hari Pamungkas, 22, claimed trial after the charge was read to them by a court interpreter before magistrate Siti Nurul Suhaila Baharin.
They allegedly committed the offence of running a gambling house at a condominium unit in Taman Bukit Dumbar Timur here on May 9.
They were charged under Section 4(1)(c) of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code.
Deputy public prosecutor Nurul Atikah Asharaf Ali asked the court to set bail at RM15,000 for the seven Malaysian accused.
"As for the Indonesian accused, no bail is offered," she said.
Counsel Dixon Eng Yuh Pei pleaded for a lower bail, saying his clients all worked as customer service personnel, earning RM3,000 a month.
He said except for Lee, a mother of two, the rest of his clients were unmarried.
He told the court that his Indonesian client had valid travel documents.
"The bail is to secure their attendance in court and should not be excessive. The RM15,000 bail offered by the prosecution is very high.
"Their family members are present in court. If the bail is too high, it will cause hardship for my clients and their families.
"It is also against the principle of innocent until proven guilty."
Eng proposed for bail to be set at RM4,000 with one surety each for the Malaysian accused and RM5,000 with two sureties for the Indonesian accused.
Siti Nurul Suhaila set bail at RM6,000 with one surety for the Malaysian accused and RM10,000 with two sureties for the Indonesian accused.
She ordered the Indonesian national to hand over his passport to the court.
"All accused must report themselves to the police station nearest to their home on the first of every month until the disposal of the case."
She fixed June 21 for case mention, pending submission of documents.
