Prostitution syndicate members charged
Monday, 23 Dec 2019
Crime group: Members of Geng Jackie being escorted to court for their case. — Bernama
JOHOR BARU: Nine people, including two women, were charged in the Sessions Court here with being members of “Geng Jackie”.
Geng Jackie is an organised crime group involved in prostitution.
The accused, aged between 24 and 51, were charged with being members of the gang between Nov 30,2017, and Nov 28 last year.
Five of them are Tay Boon Soon, 47; Chong Jin Xiong, 24; Chang Soon Fah, 31; Go Boon Keong, 42; and Wong Teck Kwang, 37. The two women are Wong Yoke Moy, 51, and Fong Yan Ching, 34.
The remaining accused are Thai national, Arnon Boonrod, 26, and Bangladeshi Md Jhaidul Islam, 31.
All of them were charged under Section 130V (1) of the Penal Code, which is punishable with a jail term of up to 20 years.
The charges against them were read separately before judge Kamaruddin Kamsun. No bail was offered and no plea was recorded from all the accused.
Chang, Teck Kwang and Go were represented by lawyers Abd Rahim Ali and Jihad Syahida Nadia Zakaria, while Yoke Moy was represented by Mohd Ashram Zakaria.
The rest were unrepresented.
DPPs Rohaiza Abd Rahman and Nadia Zulkefli represented the prosecution. The court fixed Jan 23 for mention and for the case to be transferred to the High Court for trial.
Johor Criminal Investigation Department chief Senior Asst Comm Yusof Ahmad told reporters outside the courtroom that the gang was led by a local man named “Jackie” and had been found to be exploiting foreign women for prostitution.
“The modus operandi is to get foreigners to obtain loans from Ah Long or illegal money lenders. Once they fail to pay the debts, they would end up in prostitution as a method of repayment.
“I think this is very serious. So, I warn the gang or people behind the prostitution ring to stop it as we will use all existing laws against them, ” he said. — Bernama
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