JOHOR BARU: A 52-year-old construction equipment supplier was charged at the magistrate's court today with 19 counts of cheating involving more than RM1.05 million on sales of luxury cars that did not exist.
Ernest Edwin De Silva from Bandar Seri Alam, who appeared in court in a blue shirt and grey pants, pleaded not guilty to all charges.
He was charged with four counts of cheating by duping his victims into paying money for luxury cars he was offering to them but actually did not exist.
The remaining 15 counts pertained to dishonestly misappropriating a property which he allegedly used to sell the luxury cars to unsuspecting buyers.
All the offences were committed within six months between June and December last year in Johor Baru and Seri Alam areas involving five different victims.
The court was told that the luxury cars included Toyota Velfire, Toyota Alphard, Mercedez 350, BMW, and several other high-end sedans which were estimated to be worth more than RM1.05 million.
Deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Mohd Nasir prosecuted.
Lawyer Arwa Abd Rahman who represented the accused urged the court to impose a low bail as the accused was the sole breadwinner for his family of four.
"My client has a wife who is not working and three school-going children. He also had a minor stroke recently and requires to pay for his medical bills which is rather costly," she said.
The charges were read separately in three different courts and the accused was granted a total bail of RM43,000 pending mention on March 5.