KUALA LUMPUR: A man who sold explicit videos of himself engaging in sexual activities with over 20 women on Telegram application was jointly charged with his two female friends.
Father of three, Hasli Ikhwan Arif Zul Hasli, 32, Norshazrina Md Zamri, 27 and Norhidayah Mahadi, 24, pleaded not guilty after the charge was read out to them before Sessions Court judge Siti Aminah Ghazali.
The trio had each told the court that they understood the charge and claimed trial.
The charge sheet read that they had at the office of Bukit Aman's Anti-Vice, Gambling and Secret Societies Division (D7) made advertisements for sexual activities on the X application (formerly known as Twitter) under the handle Notyourdaddy (@Hotdaddyyxx).
They committed the offence on Jan 16 at about 10.10am.
It comes under Section 372(1)(e) of the Penal Code and punishable under the section read together with Section 34 of the same code.
It carries a jail term of up to 15 years with whipping and fine.
Deputy public prosecutor Nidzuwan Abd Latif did not offer bail as it is a non-bailable offence.
He said if the court allowed bail, it should be fixed at RM20,000 with one surety for each accused.
"The proposed bail sum of RM20,000 is fair to protect the interest of the public," he said, adding that the offence was serious.
The accused were represented by counsels Mohd Faris Abrar Othman and Muhammad Faiz Mustafa.
Faris, in pleading for minimum bail, said the sum should not be excessive but enough to ensure the attendance of the accused in court.
He said there was no probability for his clients to abscond.
"They are Malaysians and have their families here. They will answer the charge in court," he added.
Faris said Hasli Ikhwan has three children aged 12,10,4 and supporting his father who suffers from kidney disease.
He said Norhidayah has no fixed income while Norshazrina earns about RM4,000 monthly as an area manager.
"In all fairness, they are all innocent until proven guilty. If the bail sum is too high, it is like punishment to them. I ask for minimum bail," he added.
Judge Siti Aminah set RM10,000 bail with one surety.
Feb 28 was set for mention and document submission.
The trio were recently arrested by D7 officers at a house in Kampung Janda Baik, Bentong, Pahang at 2.30pm.
Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said the male suspect was identified through information and investigations by the CID in Bukit Aman regarding his self-promotion of recorded sexual activities for viewing on the Telegram application.
He said this was the first time such a case had been detected in the country and must be combated on a large scale as it is feared to cause a moral breakdown in society.
Initial investigations revealed that the main suspect, who had been married and divorced twice, started selling and promoting sexual enhancement drugs from China through social media platforms since early last year.
Shuhaily had said to maximise profits, the suspect learned new ways to record explicit videos of himself engaging in rough sexual acts with his female companions before selling the scenes on three channels on Telegram since July last year.
Besides his female companions, the suspect, who was believed to have a background as a gigolo or a hired male companion, also engaged in sexual activities with some female customers in the Telegram channels.
The modus operandi involved inviting customers to subscribe through promotional links advertised by the suspect on Telegram before payment transactions were agreed upon.
He had said after payment was made, the suspect would send a link to the customer to continue watching the explicit videos that he himself performed