Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (Poca) detainee RS Vishnu Moorthy’s lawyer has filed an application for revision against his client's extended detention without trial, claiming there was a “procedural defect” because attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali did not sign off on the extension.

On April 18, a magistrate's court in Kuala Lumpur extended the detention of Vishnu Moorthy and five other individuals involved in the allegedly fraudulent foreign exchange scheme VenusFX, by another 38 days.

“Under Poca, the attorney-general must personally sign the application for detention, to say that he is satisfied that there are sufficient grounds for it.

“But in this case, a very junior deputy public prosecutor signed it, so this is a procedural defect,” explained lawyer P Uthayakumar to Malaysiakini after filing the application at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

Section 4 (2)(a) of Poca states that a written statement signed by the public prosecutor, which declares the existence of sufficient evidence, is needed to justify the holding of a detainee beyond the initial detention period of 21 days.

Along with the application for revision, Uthayakumar also filed an appeal and a habeas corpus application today against his client’s “unlawful” detention.

Vishnu Moorthy is currently detained at the Jinjang police station. His seven-month pregnant wife has been allowed to see him but only for “six to seven minutes”, he added.

Previously detained for 21 days

Vishnu Moorthy was previously detained without trial for 21 days on March 29, also under Poca.

The VenusFX scheme he worked for allegedly swindled RM80 million from more than 23,000 investors.

According to filings by Vishnu Moorthy's wife A Mageswarie, he had worked at the company for slightly over a year and was "just a salesperson" with no decision-making roles.

Uthayakumar had previously explained how the purpose of Poca is for the prevention of crime and for the control of secret societies and terrorists, not for use in commercial fraud cases.

However, early this month, investors who were victims of the VenusFX scheme expressed their support for the use of Poca by police and accused Uthayakumar and Mageswarie, who have been challenging Vishnu Moorthy’s detention without trial, of “obstructing justice”.