A ministry official, a 70-year-old businessman and the leader of the bogus Special Forces of Malaysia (FSFM) were today charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court with two counts of cheating.

Science, Technology and Environment Ministry human resource director Abdul Rahman Baba ( left ), businessman Tengku Hamid Tengku Ismail ( centre ) and FSFM chief Nor Azami Ahmad Ghazali ( right ) claimed trial to conspiring to cheat the public into believing they were representing the Malaysian Emergency Action Force.

They also pleaded not guilty to the second charge of conspiring to dupe the public into believing that FSFM was a legal body which was registered with the Prime Minister's department.

They allegedly committed the offences at Taman Bukit Angkasa, Pantai Hill Park in Kuala Lumpur between Sept 19, 2002 and July 16, 2003.

They were charged under section 417 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment or fine or both. The trio were allowed RM20,000 bail each.

Abdul Rahman, 55 and Tengku Hamid, 70, also face a third charge of forging a FSFM letter at the Science, Technology and Environment Ministry office in Putrajaya on Oct 17 last year.

The court set bail at RM10,000 each for the duo on the third charge. However, only Nor Azami managed to post bail.

The FSFM chief was represented by Karpal Singh while the other two were represented by Md Yunos Shariff, Muhammad Burok and Saiful Izahm Ramli. Deputy Public Prosecutor Abdul Rahman Putra prosecuted.

Show-cause notices

Sessions judge Mohd Zaki Abdul Wahab set Aug 25 for the parties to argue on issues of jurisdiction as the second offence was committed in Putrajaya. (Offences committed in Putrajaya are normally tried at the Sepang magistrate's court)

The court also set Jan 26 for hearing.

In this afternoon's proceeding, Karpal made an oral application seeking the court to send show cause notices to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for commenting on the case before investigations were completed.

"The prime minister and his deputy must tell this court why they should not be committed for contempt for making prejudicial statements against the accused before the investigations was completed," said the lawyer.

"The man (PM) had told the press that the case was not a security case but a cheating case. He has already prejudged the case which cannot be allowed by this court."

However Mohd Zaki advised Karpal to make a proper and separate application that can be supported with proper affidavits.

"I have to summarily dismiss your application but this will not stop you from filing a proper application," said the judge.

Light charges

The charges against the trio puzzled certain quarters, with one lawyer saying that the outcome of the police investigations "certainly did not reflect the massive coverage in the media the past week".

"After reading the news reports on the issue, we expected a more serious charges to be instituted against the accused. I was surprise to see they are only face cheating charge where they can be let off with a fine," said the lawyer who declined to be named.

On July 24, the police arrested Nor Azmi, a self-proclaimed Lieutenant General, after raiding the movement's office in Pantai Dalam.

The shadowy paramilitary unit is believed to have about 8,000 members nationwide, including professionals and civil servants.

The police claimed that the movement collected RM64 million from the sale of military ranks to new recruits.

Prices varied according to ranks - RM8,000 for second lieutenant, RM16,000 for lieutenant and RM25,000 for captain.

Recruits were also provided with uniforms, handcuffs and authority cards which the movement claimed was issued by the Prime Minister's Department

There were also reports that cabinet ministers were involved, but the police dismissed this yesterday.