Man, 47, Jailed After Forcing Woman Who Treated Him ‘Like a Son’ into ‘Slavery’ and Depriving Her of Food and Sleep

Chee Kit ‘Max’ Chong has been sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of possessing a slave at his family’s home

NEED TO KNOW

• Chee Kit ‘Max’ Chong has been sentenced to six years in prison for keeping a woman as a slave in Australia
• The woman, who met Chong at a church in 2015, was exploited for domestic work and deprived of basic rights like food and sleep
• Chong reportedly demanded money, restricted her freedom and lied about paying her while forcing her into servitude, according to local media outlets

A man has been jailed for keeping a woman as a slave at his family’s home in Australia.

On Friday, Sept. 4, Chee Kit ‘Max’ Chong was sentenced via video link from the Melbourne County Court to six years in prison, with a four-year non-parole period, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said in a ne lilease.

Earlier this year, he was found guilty of intentionally possessing a slave at his Point Cook home and depriving her of basic human rights, including food, sleep and medical assistance. His wife, Angie Liaw, 32, was acquitted after a trial in May, 7NEWS and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported.

Police began investigating Chong, 47, after a woman with “significant injuries to her body” and a “startled demeanor” presented to a hospital emergency department on Oct. 11, 2022, according to the AFP’s news release.

After investigators examined her living circumstances, they executed a search warrant that led to Chong’s arrest at his workplace and charges for human trafficking offenses.

Chong first met the Indonesian woman, aged in her 60s, at a Malaysian church in 2015, nine.com.au and news.com.au reported. He developed a “mother-son” dynamic with the woman, who cannot be legally identified, that involved her borrowing money from others to help him.

The woman was invited to live with Chong and Liaw after they moved to Australia in 2016, per news.com.au. She lived with them for six months after arriving on a tourist visa in March 2017, but was left homeless and vulnerable as Chong and Liaw left for Tasmania without telling her in September.

The woman moved into the couple’s home again in early 2022, having been tasked with helping around the house following the birth of their second child, the ABC and news.com.au reported.

Chong then allegedly demanded that she needed to pay him $1 million AUD (around $720,400) and work as his maid to compensate him for losing access to a company credit card.

“She slept on the stairs and sometimes she slept, or was kept, in the garage,” said Victorian County Court Judge Peter Cahill, per 7NEWS.

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According to the AFP’s news release, the woman was subjected to exploitation, including restrictions on her freedom of movement and deprivation of food and sleep, while being required to perform domestic duties.

These included cleaning, caring for Chong’s children and massaging his feet without pay, 7NEWS reported. The woman was threatened with assault and hunger when she failed to follow his orders, per the outlet.

Chong also repeatedly made her borrow money from her relatives back in Indonesia and from her employer because he was struggling with expenses, including hospital bills from the birth of his child, according to the ABC.

He lied to neighbors and friends that the woman was being paid $5,000 AUD a month ($3,600 USD) while keeping her as a slave between January and October 2022, per news.com.au.

She escaped his home under the guise of visiting a friend to collect money, nine.com.au reported.

Chong did not react as he was sentenced to six years in prison following the police’s human trafficking investigation, according to the outlet.

“Your treatment of her was callous and cruel, it stopped only when she left your home and it was discovered only when she needed medical care,” Judge Cahill told Chong at his sentencing, per news.com.au.

“From the time you met her, [she] was generous and loyal to you, she treated you like a son,” Cahill continued. “You exploited her vulnerabilities to exploit her … heartlessly you took advantage of her good nature.”

According to news.com.au, Chong has denied keeping the woman in slave-like conditions, but suggested the situation “might have amounted to elder abuse”.

“You treated her as a slave, that is, you used her like property you owned,” Cahill said, per the Malay Mail.

The woman did not live to see the trial or verdict as she died from natural causes in 2024, per 7NEWS.

Chong will be eligible for parole in May 2030 after serving four years of his sentence. He will likely be deported back to Malaysia, the ABC reported.

“Human trafficking and modern slavery offenses strip victims of their freedom, dignity and basic human rights. They lose their sense of identity,” said AFP Detective Superintendent Ray Imbriano in the AFP’s news release.

“This offending involved the exploitation of a vulnerable woman for personal gain,” he continued. “It serves as a reminder that these crimes can occur within our own communities, often behind closed doors.”

The AFP did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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