An unemployed man claimed trial in a magistrate's court yesterday to committing fraud by possessing 120 counterfeit Astro smart cards.
Chew Chin Chuan, 30, of Pengkalan Weld, denied possessing the cards at a car park in Jalan Datuk Koyah at 4pm on July 18.
Chew, represented by Low Meng Chua, was alleged to have committed the offence punishable under Section 236 (1) (b) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 which carries a jail term of up to five years, a fine of up to RM500,000 or both.
Prosecuting officer Amar Kaur from the Malaysian Communi-cations and Multimedia Commis-sion (MCMC), requested that bail be set at RM50,000 as 120 smart cards were seized by the police and the Commission's officers during a recent raid.
She also said RM200,000 worth of equipment used to produce Astro smart cards for illegal access to Astro services, was also seized.
Low asked for a reduced bail as his client had a wife and four-year-old child to support.
“My client, formerly working as an Astro installer, is now unemployed,'' he adding that bail was to ensure Chew's attendance in court and meant to be punitive.
Magistrate Priscilla H.N. Rajan allowed bail of RM20,000 in one surety and fixed hearing at the Sessions Court on Nov 8 and 9.
The case is believed to be the first in the state to be brought to court by the MCMC.
It was reported in The Star on July 20, that an Astro smart card cloning and distribution syndicate, said to be the biggest in the country, had been crippled with the arrest of four men in George Town and Bukit Mertajam.
The suspects were nabbed by the state commercial crime branch team led by Chief Insp Kasturi Othman.
It was also reported that the cards, normally sold at be- tween RM150 and RM200, were “guaranteed” for at least a year. Those with the cloned cards would be able to view all the Astro channels and the pay-per-view programmes for free for a year.