A total of 152 Chinese nationals and a Bangladeshi man detained in an immigration bust of suspected online cheating operations carried out in Cyberjaya on Nov 20, were charged in the Sessions Court here today for immigration offences.

All 130 men and 23 girls, aged 19 to 34, were charged with entering the country without valid documents and overstaying.

The charges against them were read in Mandarin and Malay by three interpreters from the Immigration Department.

In the proceedings before Judge Tengku Shahrizam Tuan Lah which lasted for about an hour and a half, all 153 accused pleaded guilty to the charges.

Of the total, 102 individuals were charged under Section 6 (3) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for failing to produce valid travel documents, and the court fined them RM5,000 each.

Another 51 were charged under Section 15 (4) of the same law, for overstaying and the court imposed a RM15,000 fine each, in default of five months’ jail.

Of the total, 152 accused paid the fine, while one person was ordered to serve the jail sentence for failing to pay the fine.

These individuals were in the second group to appear in court, after the first group of 373 of Chinese nationals were charged in the Sessions Court for similar immigration offences on Friday (Dec 13).

On Nov 20, the Immigration Department raided a six-storey building in Cyberjaya in connection with an online scam syndicate, where 680 Chinese were detained, while more than 100 people escaped.

- Bernama