The inquiry will allow Aldrin Pratama Widjaja the opportunity to prove that he is not the person known as Paiman Shakimon.

The dates were fixed after deputy public prosecutor Ashrof Adrin Kamarul informed Justice Jamil Hussin that the parties were ready to proceed with the matter.

The inquiry has been scheduled for Sept 18 to 20, 26, 27 and 30.

Ashrof said the prosecution would call between 10 and 15 witnesses, while lawyer Hanafiah Zakaria, representing Aldrin, will call one.

The prosecution insists that Paiman and Aldrin are the same person. However, Aldrin claims it is a case of mistaken identity.

Last September, the Court of Appeal ordered the High Court to hold an inquiry to determine whether it was Paiman or Aldrin who committed the offences between 2005 and 2006.

A three-member bench said the prosecution’s reliance on biometrics, involving the fingerprints of the man known as Paiman, was insufficient.

It also allowed Aldrin’s appeal to set aside a warrant of committal issued on Dec 2, 2021, requiring him to serve the jail sentence imposed on the person known as Paiman.

Paiman was charged and convicted on April 19, 2011 by the sessions court on four charges – two counts of cheating and two of falsifying documents – involving RM12 million belonging to his victims between 2005 and 2006.

Then sessions court judge Jagjit Singh ordered him to serve concurrent jail terms on the four charges, meaning he would spend 13 years in prison.

Pending his appeal against his conviction and sentence, he was allowed RM750,000 bail but went missing in 2012.

Police arrested Aldrin in 2021. Jamil, who heard his appeal, affirmed the sessions court’s sentence.

However, he managed to obtain a stay of execution from another Court of Appeal panel in 2022 after posting a RM1 million bail pending his appeal.