A Penang state assemblyperson has lodged a police report claiming that he nearly fell victim to an alleged conspiracy between an employer and the police.

NONE Pantai Jerejak assemblyperson Sim Tze Tsin ( left ) said he received a telephone call about 11 last night, but he was in a meeting and could not attend to the matter.

After the meeting, Sim said he returned the call, which was answered by a Chinese national who claimed she was a victim of abuse and trafficking by her employer, which had been widely reported by the media about three weeks ago.

The incident centred around four foreign workers from China - aged between 23 and 38 - who sought jobs in Penang three years ago to support their families back home.

Although offered jobs as beauticians, upon arrival in Penang they were shoved into an obscure outlet to do reflexology massage.

They claimed they worked 364 days a year with only a day’s leave, and their boss owed them about RM10,000 each in terms of wages.

After lodging their reports, Southwest District OCPD Mohd Hatta Mohd Zain said the case was being investigated under Section 13 of the Anti-Human Trafficking Act 2007.

'Victims told to withdraw report'

“The Chinese woman told me that the police were taking her and her colleagues from Kuala Lumpur to Balik Pulau,” Sim said when met at the Balik Pulau police station.

“According to the woman, their employer has asked them to hold a press conference to change and withdraw their witness statements (under Criminal Procedure Code section 112),” he added.

“They were told to give new statements implicating me as the person who used them,” he claimed.

Sim said the woman claimed that the workers were told of the plan about 12 days after the employer had been detained by the police.

He added that the workers refused to change the version of their report - which is currently under probe - as suggested by the employer.

He said the workers also told him that “a few police personnel are friends of their boss”.

Sim said he was lodging the police report to ensure that no wrongdoing and slander was done unto him.

He later played a four-minute recording of his conversation with the Chinese national for reporters as “proof” of the alleged conspiracy.

He urged the police to probe the matter without prejudice or favouritism to any quarter in order to serve justice.