A businessman with a Datuk title was today charged in two separate Sessions courts, on two counts of cheating a Datuk Seri of 2.5 million ringgit, over a non-existent project.

In one of the courts, Datuk Syed Ahamed Malik Syed Hamid, is charged with deceiving businessman Datuk Seri Lee Wan Beng, 62, into believing that he was an agent of Minat Jasa Sdn Bhd and offered the latter a contract to sell scrap and scheduled materials belonging to Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd, which he knew did not exist.

This prompted Datuk Seri Lee into handing him a cheque for 500,000 ringgit which was deposited into an account belonging to Messrs. Ahmad Rosdi & Co.
   
Datuk Syed Ahamed Malik was charged with committing the offence at the PJ Hilton on April 1 last year.

In another court, Datuk Syed Ahamed was charged with cheating Datuk Seri Lee by inducing the latter to hand over a cheque for 2 million ringgit, which was also deposited into the account of the legal firm.

The offence was allegedly committed at the office of Messrs. Ahmad Rosdi & Co in Petaling Jaya, on September 14 last year.

He was granted bail of 100,000 ringgit in one surety for both the charges.

The court also set September 3 to mention both cases.