KUALA LUMPUR: Two Malaysian men who are wanted by the United States Department of Justice for alleged money laundering and cyber crimes in that country, sought to stay their extradition proceeding in the Sessions Court here.

Businessman Wong Ong Hua, 47, and computer analyst Ling Yang Ching, 33, filed a lawsuit before the High Court yesterday to challenge the validity of Sections 4 and 20 of the Extradition Act.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Ashrof Adrin Kamarul said the duo's counsel Tey Jun Ren had informed judge Emelia Kaswati Mohamad Khalid that his clients had filed a stay application against the lower court's extradition proceedings, pending disposal of the lawsuit.

"The Attorney-General Chamber's (AGC) will file a formal reply to Wong and Ling's bid to stop the extradition case," Mohd Ashrof said when contacted by the media today.

He said the court then set Oct 22 to hear Ling and Wong's application to stay the extradition and ordered the AGC to file their affidavit in reply to the businessmen's application before Sept 29.

On Sept 3, last year, the US authorities requested for the two suspects to be extradited to the country and the AGC agreed to the request in accordance with the Extradition Act 1992 and the extradition agreement between the governments of Malaysia and the US.

The duo will be charged in the US with 23 counts including identity theft, access device fraud, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) violation, and falsely registering domain names.

-- BERNAMA