{
  "id": 5529451,
  "title": "'Callous and cruel': suburban slave owner jailed",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/04/callous-and-cruel-suburban-slave-owner-jailed",
  "topic": null,
  "section": null,
  "published": "2026-09-04T05:15:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Discovered",
    "slug": "discovered",
    "url": "https://areanews.com.au/story/9343703/callous-and-cruel-suburban-slave-owner-jailed"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A 61-year-old man from Malaysia has been sentenced to six years in prison for exploiting a vulnerable woman and holding her as a slave in his Melbourne home for nine months in 2022. The woman, who cannot be identified, met the defendant, Chee Kit Max Chong, in a Malaysian church in 2015 and they quickly became close. She provided him with thousands of dollars during his financial struggles and followed him to Australia in 2017.\n\nHowever, when Chong and his wife Angie Liaw moved to Tasmania without informing her, the woman found herself alone and homeless. In late 2021, Chong contacted her again, claiming his family had moved back to Melbourne. During the nine months she lived with him in Melbourne in 2022, Chong subjected her to severe abuse, making her perform household chores, massage his feet, and act as his 5:30 am alarm clock. If she failed to comply with his orders, Chong assaulted her, deprived her of food and sleep, and injured her physically.\n\nThe woman sought help from a cafe owner on September 16, 2022, after noticing her with severe bruising. She fled Chong's home on October 7, 2022, but was found four days later with injuries. Chong was found guilty of intentionally possessing a slave and one count of assault. Despite the victim's generous and loyal nature, Chong exploited her vulnerabilities, treating her like a property. The judge emphasized the cruelty of Chong's actions and the need to deter others from committing similar offenses. Chong's wife, Angie Liaw, was acquitted of assisting Chong. The Australian Federal Police welcomed the sentence, stating that such crimes can occur within communities, often hidden from view.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}