JOHOR BARU: Seven Chinese nationals were each fined RM5,000 by the magistrate's court here today for cheating by developing a cryptocurrency investment application targeting Vietnamese victims last month.

Magistrate Atifah Hazimah Wahab handed down the sentence after all the accused — Tan Wei Wei, 35, Xu Laiwu, 37, Ren Zilong, 25, Li Jiang, 31, Huang Yaolin, 27, Li Libo, 25, and Chen Hui, 31 — pleaded guilty when the charges were read to them in Mandarin.

According to the charge sheet, they were accused of conspiring to commit fraud by creating a cryptocurrency investment app designed to deceive Vietnamese nationals.

The offence was committed in Jalan Forest City 5, Gelang Patah, Iskandar Puteri, at 1.45pm on Aug 25.

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They were charged under Section 120B(2) of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum jail term of six months, a fine, or both, upon conviction.

The accused, who were unrepresented, pleaded for a lighter sentence.

However, deputy public prosecutor Nik Noratini Nik Azman urged the court to impose a punishment that reflects the seriousness of the offence and serves as a deterrent.

"Their modus operandi was to target Vietnamese citizens in an online fraud syndicate," she said.

The court subsequently imposed the RM5,000 fine on each of the accused.

According to the case facts, police had conducted surveillance on the group's activities before raiding the premises, where the seven Chinese nationals were arrested.

Authorities also seized mobile phones, laptops, routers and WiFi modems.

Investigations revealed that the premises had been used as a scam call centre involved in online cryptocurrency investment fraud targeting Vietnamese nationals.