PETALING JAYA: A new twist emerged on the abduction of pastor Raymond Koh when a 31-year-old-man, who had claimed trial to extorting from Koh’s son, was charged with kidnapping yesterday.
Lam Chang Nam was charged at the magistrate’s court here under Section 365 of the Penal Code with kidnapping or abduction.
The part-time driver pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him.
Counsel Aaron Mark Pius, who represented Lam, when contacted today, said he could not ascertain details of the charge.
“The only information I can give now is that the extortion charge and the kidnapping charge is related.
"I did not receive any document from them yet,” he said, adding that the court fixed Feb 26 for mention.
Pius said the court set bail at RM5,000 with one surety and his client paid the bail.
“The deputy public prosecutor previously asked that no bail be offered as the case was a non-bailable offence.
“However, when pleading for minimum bail, I told the court that my client had been very cooperative with the police in their investigation,” he said.
He said his client’s family informed him that Lam was arrested on Friday in Ipoh, Perak.
On March 15 last year, Lam claimed trial to extorting RM30,000 from Koh’s son Jonathan Koh Szu Hao, 33, under the pretext of securing the pastor's safe release.
He was alleged to have committed the offence at Paradigm Mall, Jalan SS7/26, Kelana Jaya, near here at 9.46pm on March 6.
Koh, 62, is believed to have been abducted by masked men at Jalan SS4B/10 on the morning of Feb 13.
A video of Koh’s alleged abduction surfaced soon after and went viral on social media.
The video allegedly shows Koh’s abduction by 15 men in seven vehicles in just under a minute, in what appeared to be a well-planned and professionally-executed operation.