Kuala lumpur a construction company director pleaded not guilty to 11 charges involving land fraud and money laundering amounting to more than rm3.7 million at the sessions court here today. a. rama rao:uala Lumpur A construction company director pleaded not guilty to 11 charges involving land fraud and money laundering amounting to more than RM3.7 million at the Sessions Court here today. A. Rama Rao, 65, entered the plea after the charges were read before Judge Datuk Mohd Nasir Nordin.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the first charge against Rama Rao, as director of RV Global Sdn Bhd, involved allegedly deceiving an industrial company into surrendering 3.24 hectares (eight acres) of land in Serendah, Hulu Selangor. The alleged deception occurred at the industrial company in Shah Alam on July 18, 2007, whereby he claimed to represent 136 former workers of Serendah Estate.
For this charge, Rama Rao was charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum jail term of 10 years, whipping, and a fine upon conviction. In addition to this, he faced charges for two transfers of land ownership to Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd, involving plots of 0.216 hectares and 0.6158 hectares, suspected to be linked to unlawful activities.
The transfers allegedly took place at the Selangor Department of the Director General of Lands and Mines in Klang on July 18, 2023, and November 19, 2024. Furthermore, Rama Rao was charged with transferring funds believed to have been derived from unlawful activities, totaling RM318,605, RM24,000, RM136,000, RM130,000, RM100,000, RM2 million, RM700,000, and RM300,000 between December 30, 2024, and December 30, 2025. The funds were transferred into various bank accounts associated with his companies, family members, and investment accounts.
The charges for land ownership transfer were brought under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 [Act 613], along with Section 87(1)(a) of the same Act, and are punishable under Section 4(1) of the Act. The fund transfer charges were framed under Section 4(1)(b) of the same Act, with potential penalties of up to 15 years in prison and a fine of not less than five times the amount or value of the proceeds from the unlawful activities, or RM5 million, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy public prosecutor Asmaa' Zamri proposed a bail of RM100,000 for all charges, along with conditions such as surrendering his passport, reporting to the MACC office, and not interfering with prosecution witnesses. Rama Rao's lawyer, M. Teeruvarasu, appealed for reasonable bail, citing his client's health issues and family responsibilities.
The court set bail at RM80,000 with the additional conditions and scheduled the case mention for June 10.