Woman allegedly held as a slave by a couple suffered a devastating blow when she was diagnosed with a terminal illness
- Woman would be kept as a slave
- She was diagnosed with a terminal illness
The complainant in an alleged Melbourne slavery case has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, a court has said, as prosecutors have confirmed they will seek to take the case to the High Court.
The Point Cook couple Chee Kit Chong, 44, and Angie Yeh Liaw, 29, have each been charged by Australian Federal Police with multiple modern slavery offenses after allegedly house-slaving a woman between January and October 2022 held.
Prosecutor Michael Keks told Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday that the complainant, who he said was a “crucial witness”, had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, foreshadowing the Crown’s attempt to take the case straight to the High Court and skip the binding hearing process.
The complainant in an alleged Melbourne slavery case has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, a court has said, as prosecutors have confirmed they will seek to take the case to the High Court (pictured, Chee Kit Chong)
“This needs to be addressed,” Mr Keks said.
He told the court that the defendants engaged several lawyers, but several firms backed out due to lack of funding.
Mr Keks said there had been a ‘lack of progress’ in the case overall, saying the court had ‘no confidence’ that funding would come from the accused couple.
The AFP had previously said it had launched an investigation into the couple after reports from a concerned care partner about a woman showing possible signs of human trafficking.
They said they carried out search warrants at the couple’s home in Point Cook on October 27 last year, and charged Mr Chong on November 17 with possessing a slave and using coercion and threats to force another person into to maintain service.
He was later charged with controlling a slave, and on April 4 this year, Ms. Liaw was charged with the same three offences.
The maximum sentence each face receives is 25 years in prison.
Melbourne couple Angie Liaw and Chee Kit Chong have both been charged with three slavery-related crimes and will face their case in the High Court. Photo: Facebook.
Defense attorney Payne Wu, who represents both Mr. Chong and Ms. Liaw, said the council needed time to start inspecting the prosecution.
Magistrate Belinda Franjic told Mr Chong, who appeared in court in person, and Ms Liaw, who appeared via video, that if funding issues remained when the case returned next month, she would “seriously have fun” taking it straight to a higher court to send.
“You must pay your lawyers as soon as possible,” Magistrate Franjic said.
The case will return to Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on July 14.
Both Mr. Chong and Ms. Liaw had their bails extended until that date.