PETALING JAYA: Malaysian Yeuw Kong Yuleh was sentenced by an Indonesian court to a year and six months in jail for money laundering after he was unable to prove that his wealth did not come from selling wild animals.

The Jambi District Court also ordered Yeuw to pay Rp 50 million (RM16,000) in fines or serve an additional two months in jail, The Jakarta Post reported today.

Yeuw, who is also known as Alung, was believed to be part of an international syndicate smuggling wild animals.

According to the report, he was arrested at the Jelutung area in Jambi last November for owning 279kg of pangolin scales. The scales were intended to be smuggled to China to make drugs.

Pangolins are indigenous to the jungles of Indonesia, parts of Malaysia and areas of southern Thailand, and their meat is considered a delicacy in China.

They are classified as a protected species under the UN’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and international trade in any Asian pangolin species is banned under the convention.

In May, Malaysia made its largest haul of pangolin scales, 712kg estimated to be worth more than US$2 million (RM8.6 million).