A ‘heartless’ man will spend six years behind bars for exploiting a vulnerable woman and keeping her as a slave for nine months.
The woman regarded Chee Kit ‘Max’ Chong, 47, as a son, and the 61-year-old followed him to Australia from Malaysia.
But he took advantage of her kindness and used her as a slave to his own Melbourne at home between January and October 2022.
“Your treatment of her was callous and cruel,” Judge Cahill of the Victorian County Court said in sentencing on Friday.
The woman, who cannot be legally identified, first met Chong at a Malaysian church in 2015, and they quickly bonded.
She provided him with thousands of dollars when he was struggling, and followed him to Australia in 2017.
But she was left alone and homeless when Chong and his wife Angie Liaw traveled to Malaysia and then moved to Tasmania without telling her.
Mr Chong contacted the woman again in late 2021 and said his family had returned to Melbourne.
Chee Kit ‘Max’ Chong convicted of enslaving and assaulting vulnerable woman who followed him from Malaysia to Australia
The victim became homeless when Chong and his wife Angie Liaw (pictured) left Melbourne in 2021
It was during the nine months she lived with Chong in 2022 that Chong attacked the woman and treated her like a slave.
He cleaned her for the family, massaged his feet, and stayed up all night to serve as a 4:30 alarm clock.
When she disobeyed his orders, he attacked her and deprived her of food and sleep.
The woman disclosed the abuse to a cafe owner on September 16 after they saw her with horrific bruises on her face.
She fled Chong’s home on October 7 under the guise of visiting a friend to raise money. Police found her four days later with a swollen ear and an injured eye.
Chong repeatedly denied the wrongdoing and took the case to trial, but a jury found him guilty in May of knowingly possessing a slave and one count of assault.
The woman did not live to see the trial or the County Court ruling, as she died of natural causes in 2024.
Judge Cahill said the woman had been generous and loyal and had treated Chong as if she were her own son.
When Chong (pictured) returned to Melbourne in 2022, the victim moved in with him and was treated like a slave
Chong’s wife (left) was also tried, but the judge acquitted her before the jury began deliberating. Chong (right) is likely to be deported to Malaysia.
“You exploited her vulnerabilities to use her as your property,” the judge said.
The judge accepted that Chong was likely to be deported back to Malaysia and that his time in custody would be difficult for his wife and young children.
But the court had to expose the cruel behavior and deter others from committing similar offences, Judge Cahill said.
Chong did not respond as he was given a six-year prison sentence with a non-parole period of four years.
His wife Angie was also tried, accused of assisting Chong, but Judge Cahill acquitted her before jury deliberations.
The Australian Federal Police welcomed the verdict and pledged to continue to focus on protecting vulnerable people.
“(This case) reminds us that these crimes can happen within our own communities, often behind closed doors,” Detective Ray Imbriano said in a statement.
