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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020
MIRI (BERNAMA) - A British citizen, died
after complaining of not feeling well when
quarantined at a hotel last Friday.
Miri District Police Chief ACP Lim
Meng Seah said Thomas Holmes, 48, died
about 3.30pm at the emergency ward of
Miri Hospital.
“The deceased was sent to Miri Hospital
by ambulance after complaining of not
feeling well to Medic Shell members who
were also at the hotel.
“The COVID19 swab test was performed
on the deceased on the day he died and was
conirmed negative,” Lim said.
According to him, an autopsy will be
performed on Holmes’ body.
The project manager of Tai Crest
Resources Sdn Bhd arrived in Miri for work
purpose on June 4 from Kuala Lumpur and
was placed under quarantine at the hotel for
nine days.
A manager of the company lodged a po-
lice report at the Miri Central Police Station
at 4.49pm yesterday after being informed
by the head ofice in Kuala Lumpur, at about
11am last Saturday, about Holmes’ death.
According to Lim, the case has been
classiied as a sudden death.
British project
manager dies in
quarantine in Miri
JAKARTA (XINHUA) - The COVID19 cases in
Indonesia rose by 1,106 within one day to
40,400, with the death toll adding by 33 to
2,231, Health Ministry oficial Achmad Yurianto
said at a press conference yesterday.
He also said that 580more people had been
discharged from hospitals, bringing the total
number of recovered patients to 15,703.
Within the past 24 hours, ive provinces
- Jakarta, Central Java, East Java, South
Kalimantan and South Sulawesi - recorded
a high number of cases, Yurianto said,
adding that the high number was recorded
ma i n l y due t o “agg re s s i ve con t ac t
tracings” on coronavirus patients in
the provinces.
However, no more positive cases were
found in seven provinces, namely, Aceh,
Jambi, Riau, Riau Islands, Lampung, East Nusa
Tenggara and West Sulawesi.
A ire ighter sprays disinfectant along a display case at the Puppetry Museum prior to its
reopening after weeks of closure in Jakarta. PHOTO: AP
Indonesia reports 1,106 new
COVID-19 cases, 33 new deaths
BANGKOK (BERNAMA) – Thailand reported
no new local coronavirus transmission for 22
consecutive days while people were urged not
to lower guard against COVID19, Thai News
Agency (TNA) reported.
Deputy spokeswoman for the government’s
Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration
(CCSA) Panprapa Yongtrakul said the country
recorded no new coronavirus infections in the
last 24 hours and no new deaths.
Sixmore patients discharged fromhospitals
and 84 COVID19 patients are being treated at
hospitals, she said.
The total COVID19 cases remain at
3,135 with the total death toll unchanged
at 58.
The spokeswoman said globally, Covid-19
casesroseto8.1millionandthedeathtollreached
more than 444,000. TheUnited States (US) had
themost accumulated cases, followedby Brazil
and Russia.
In Asia, India has the most infection rate
with the daily conirmed cases of about
10,000 on average since the beginning of
June, followed by Pakistan at 5,000 cases
per day.
A toddler getting temperature checked while entering a night market in the southern Thai
province of Narathiwat. PHOTO: AFP
No new local COVID-19 cases in
Thailand for 22
nd
straight day
KUALA LUMPUR §BERNAMA) – The pros-
ecution in the trial of former Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and 1Malaysia
Development Berhad (1MDB) former chief
executive oficer Arul Kanda Kandasamy
who have been charged with tampering with
the 1MDB inal audit report, is planning to
amend wordings in the charge against them.
Former Federal Court judge leading
the prosecution team, Datuk Seri Gopal
Sri Ram, told presiding Judge Mohamed
Zaini Mazlan that they intended to do the
amendment today.
Lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee
Abdullah, however, said that the defence
would object to the prosecution’s intention
as their preparation for the case was based
on the original charge.
“We will object strenuously,” he said
at the end of the day-10 trial at the High
Court yesterday.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Akram
Gharib, when met by reporters later, said
that the amendment was meant “to make it
(charge) abundantly clear”.
Na j i b, 67, i s cha rged wi th us i ng
his position to order amendments to
the 1MDB final audit report before it
was presented before the Public Ac-
counts Committee to avoid any action
being taken against him, while Arul
Kanda is charged with abetting Najib
in making amendments to the report
to protect Najib from being subjected
to action.
Both men have been charged under
provisions of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption
Commission Act 2009, which carry a
maximum jail term of 20 years and a ine
of no less than ive times the amount of
gratiication or RM10,000, whichever is
higher, upon conviction.
Prosecution in Najib-Arul Kanda’s audit
report case plans to amend charge
JAKARTA (AFP) - An American fugitive
wanted at home in connection with a
U S D 7 00 m i l l i o n c r y p t o c u r r e n c y
scam has been arrested in Jakarta on
sex charges, Indonesian authorities
said yesterday.
Ru s s Med l i n , who en t e r ed t he
Southeast Asian nation on a tourist visa
last year, was nabbed in the capital
on Monday after three teenage girls
alleged he paid to have sex with them,
police said.
If convicted under Indonesia’s child
protection laws, Medlin could face up to 15
years in prison, police said, adding that they
coniscated more than USD20,000 in cash
from the suspect.
“After the arrest, we checked his
identity,” Jakarta police spokesman Yusri
Yunus told reporters yesterday, adding
Medlin was sought by foreign law enforce-
ment agencies.
According to the Nevada State sex
offender publicwebsite, a Russ Albert Medlin
was listed as a “non-compliant” tier-two
offender - the second most serious - with a
Las Vegas address.
In December, the United States (US)
Justice Department said three men had
been arrested in an alleged fraud that raised
USD722 million from investors lured by fake
bitcoin mining earnings.
Prosecutors in the US allege Medlin
headed the “BitClub Network,” which
took money from investors in a “high-tech
Ponzi scheme”.
From April 2014 through December 2019
the group attracted unsuspecting investors
using fraudulent earnings purported to come
from the network’s mining pool, according
to prosecutors.
It was not immediately clear if US
authorities would seek Medlin’s extradition
in the cryptocurrrency case.
“We are still waiting for a request from
the US Embassy,” Jakarta police’s special
investigation director Roma Hutajulu
said yesterday.
The US embassy did not immediately
reply to requests for comment.
Indonesia arrests US fraud
fugitive on local sex charges