Duo wanted by US over cybercrimes denied bail

KUALA LUMPUR: Two Malaysian men who are wanted by the United States Department of Justice for alleged money laundering and cybercrimes in the country will remain in prison until their extradition application is heard by the Sessions Court, next week.

This followed the decision of the High Court here yesterday to deny bail to businessman Wong Ong Hua, 46, and computer analyst Ling Yang Ching, 32, who will be charged in the US with 23 counts including of identity theft, access device fraud, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) violation and falsely registering domain names.

Judicial Commissioner Datuk Aslam Zainuddin rejected the bail application after listening to arguments from deputy public prosecutor Mohd Ashrof Adrin Kamarul and lawyer Datuk Zamani Ibrahim who represented Wong and Ling.

In his judgement, Aslam said the bail application was rejected because the proceedings for the extradition application for the two men were already set for Monday (Dec 21).

“If the bail is allowed today, they still have to undergo the two-week quarantine before they are allowed to return, when in fact, the committal proceeding will be held during the period,” he said.

Earlier, Zamani said his clients required time to settle personal matters before being extradited to the US and that they were ready to accept additional conditions by the court.

“Since the country's border is not yet opened, we give our assurance that our clients will be present in court for the extradition proceedings next week,” the lawyer said.

On Sept 3, the US authorities have requested for the two suspects to be extradited to the country and the AttorneyGeneral's Chamber has agreed to adhere to the request according to the Extradition Act 1992 and extradition agreement between the governments of Malaysia and the US.