PUTRAJAYA — A member of Global Ikhwan Services and Business (GISB) Holding pleaded not guilty in the magistrate’s court here to a charge of making criminal threats against a woman over a police report she had filed.
Mohamad Riza Makar, 39, a businessman, entered his plea after the charge was read out before Magistrate Ahmad Afiq Hasan.
He is accused with criminally intimidating the 25-year-old woman at a parking lot in Precinct 4 here at about 10pm on September 9, to cause fear so that the woman would withdraw a police report she had filed.
The woman is a former GISB Holdings member, according to Bernama’s report on the court proceedings.
Riza, who has three wives and 10 children, is alleged to have threatened the woman by saying, “We’ll wait, we know where your house, husband and family are.”
The offence, under Section 506 of the Penal Code, carries a penalty of up to two years in prison, a fine, or both.
The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Mohd Sabri Othman while the accused was represented by lawyer Zulfikri Ulul Azmin.
The court released Riza on RM10,000 bail in one surety and set the condition that he must not disturb, approach or contact the complainant throughout the trial. He is also required to report to a police station in the first week of every month.
Sabri had earlier proposed to the court higher bail of RM30,000 in two local sureties, but the accused’s lawyer Zulfikri appealed to the court for a more reasonable bail amount, arguing that the threat was minor and not a serious offence, and that RM30,000 was beyond the accused’s means.
Zulfikri also told the court Riza’s wife had just given birth, and he needed to provide for his children’s expenses.
The court set October 18 this year for mention.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said previously police had acted on a report lodged by a former GISB Holdings member from Negeri Sembilan and then retracted it, before lodging a new one.
He urged other GISB Holdings members who had lodged reports but withdrawn them to come forward and help police in their investigations into the company, which is linked to care homes where sexual and physical abuse of children allegedly took place.
Police on September 11 raided 20 in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan homes and rescued 402 children who showed signs of various forms of abuse. — September 18, 2024
