Lo Fui Ming, 67, and his son, Lo Teck Yong, 42, both former directors of a mining company, pleaded not guilty after the charges were read out before judge Jason Juga.

The accused allegedly sold 26 gold bars illegally to a company without declaring it in the invoice presented to the land and survey department (JTU) for royalty calculations on the sale of gold bars mined and produced at Bukit Mantri, Tawau.

According to the land and mineral mining lease with JTU, the mining company was required to pay a 5% royalty on the proceeds of sales of gold mined at Bukit Mantri.

They allegedly committed the offence between October 2019 and March this year.

Fui Ming faces 24 charges under Section 418 of the Penal Code, while Teck Yong’s charges are framed under Section 109 of the Penal Code, punishable by up to seven years’ imprisonment or a fine or both upon conviction.

Jason allowed both the accused to be bailed at RM100,000 and ordered them to surrender their passports to the court.

He also fixed Dec 8 for the next mention of the case.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officer Lim Wai Keong appeared for the prosecution, while the accused were represented by lawyer Zahir Shah.