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UC Travel Sdn Bhd director, Agus Rizal Mat Ali claimed trial for the charge of advertising furada haj packages without a valid license, reported Berita Harian.
The accused pleaded not guilty as soon as the charge was read to him before Sessions Court Judge Kamarudin Kamsun earlier this morning.
Based on the charge sheet, Agus was accused of advertising a fraudulent haj packaged under the UC Travel Sdn Bhd on Facebook, claiming that the company is allowed to make business transactions and conduct haj trips for this year under the furada visa.
Furada visa is a self-managed visa issued by Saudi Arabia without going through Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH).
According to the report, UC Travel Sdn Bhd did not possess a valid pilgrimage management license from TH to conduct such activity.
The charge was made under Section 27(1)(b) of the Tabung Haji Act 1995, which carries one-year maximum imprisonment, or an RM100,000 fine if convicted.
The prosecution was handled by Deputy public prosecutor Nur Aqilah Ishak while Agus was represented by his lawyers, Datuk Dhanaraj and Ho Cheng En.
The bail was set at RM50,000 and Judge Kamarudin Kamsun set 8 September for the re-mention of the case.
Agus was among five individuals – aged between 30 to 60 – that were detained by the police on 7 July following multiple reports lodged against them for allegedly duping 380 prospective haj pilgrims that were left stranded at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on the same date.
In expressing regret over the incident, Saudi Arabia’s embassy insisted that the Saudi government had nothing to do with the incident.
READ MORE: Stranded Pilgrims To Get Their Money Back, Tour Agents Arrested By Police
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