HE TREATED HER LIKE A MOTHER — THEN THE COURT HEARD HOW HE TURNED HER INTO A SLAVE

A Melbourne man has been sentenced to six years in prison after a court found that he exploited an Indonesian woman who had once treated him like a son, depriving her of food, sleep, medical care and freedom.

At first, their relationship looked almost like family.

She had met Chee Kit “Max” Chong at a church in Malaysia in 2015.

Over time, the Indonesian woman — who was in her 60s and cannot legally be identified — developed a close, mother-son-like relationship with Chong.

According to evidence later heard in court, she was generous toward him and had even borrowed money from relatives and others to help him financially.

But years later, that relationship would become something dramatically different.

On Friday, Sept. 4, Chong, 47, was sentenced in the Melbourne County Court to six years in prison, with a four-year non-parole period, after being found guilty earlier this year of intentionally possessing a slave and assault.

The judge described his treatment of the woman as “callous and cruel.”

And then came the words that captured the extraordinary betrayal at the center of the case.

“You treated her as a slave,” Judge Michael Cahill told Chong.

“That is, you used her like property you owned.”

THE WOMAN WHO ONCE HELPED HIM

The woman first encountered Chong through a Malaysian church community.

Prosecutors said their relationship became almost familial, with the woman regarding Chong as a son.

She reportedly helped him financially, including by borrowing money from people she knew.

When Chong and his partner, Angie Yeh Liaw, moved to Australia, the woman was eventually invited to live with them.

She arrived in Australia on a tourist visa in March 2017 and stayed with the couple for several months.

But after the couple left the country, she was left homeless and vulnerable.

Years later, Chong contacted her again.

In early 2022, she moved into the family’s Point Cook home in Melbourne’s west.

At the time, she was expected to help around the house while Liaw was recovering after giving birth.

Instead, prosecutors said, her situation rapidly deteriorated.

THEN EVERYTHING CHANGED

According to the court, Chong claimed the woman owed him an extraordinary amount of money.

He allegedly demanded that she pay $1 million Australian dollars and work as a maid to compensate him for what he claimed he had lost.

The court heard that Chong then controlled almost every aspect of her daily life.

She was required to perform household chores.

She cared for the couple’s children.

She was ordered to massage Chong’s feet.

And she was not paid for the work.

More disturbingly, the court heard that she was deprived of food and sleep and had her movements restricted.

At times, she was forced to sleep on the stairs or in the garage.

The court also heard that Chong assaulted her.

Judge Cahill said Chong would criticize her over text messages when her work did not meet his expectations and that he hit her over what the judge described as even minor mistakes.

Evidence presented in court included allegations that Chong kicked her in the face and smashed her head through a wall.

One other assault allegation involving a vacuum cleaner shaft was ultimately dropped, while the jury found Chong guilty of one assault charge and cleared him of two other assault charges.

SHE WAS HUNGRY — AND HAD TO HIDE FOOD

The details of her daily existence were among the most disturbing parts of the case.

The woman reportedly asked a local charity for crackers and other small food items.

Why?

Because they were easier to hide.

She had been deprived of adequate food, the court heard.

She also suffered from a lack of sleep and proper medical care.

Judge Cahill said Chong controlled her access to food and sleep as part of the coercive environment in the home.

Meanwhile, Chong allegedly told friends and neighbors that the woman was working for him for around $5,000 a month.

The court heard that this was not true.

Behind closed doors, she was allegedly working without pay.

THE ESCAPE

The situation continued for months.

Then, in October 2022, the woman managed to leave the home.

She had reportedly used the excuse of visiting a friend to collect money.

She did not immediately return.

After she disappeared from the household, she was eventually found and taken to hospital.

What medical staff saw triggered alarm.

According to the Australian Federal Police, she arrived with significant injuries and a startled demeanor.

ABC reported that she appeared malnourished and had a swollen ear, an injured foot and bruising around her eye.

That hospital visit became the turning point.

Police began investigating her circumstances.

The investigation eventually led authorities to Chong.

THE CASE WOULD TAKE YEARS TO REACH A VERDICT

Chong and Liaw were arrested in October 2022 following a tip from a healthcare worker.

The case was complicated and took years to reach trial.

In May 2026, a jury found Chong guilty of intentionally possessing a slave and assault.

He was acquitted of two other assault charges.

Liaw, who had also faced accusations of assisting or encouraging the slavery offence, was acquitted after Judge Cahill ruled during the trial that the evidence was insufficient to establish her involvement.

The woman herself never lived to see the final verdict.

She died in April 2024 at the age of 63 from causes unrelated to the offending.

“SHE TREATED YOU LIKE A SON”

At sentencing, Judge Cahill returned to the relationship that had existed years earlier.

The woman had been generous and loyal to Chong.

She had treated him like a son.

But according to the judge, Chong exploited that trust.

“Your treatment of her was callous and cruel,” Cahill said, according to reports of the sentencing.

He told Chong that the abuse only stopped when she escaped — and that it was only discovered when she eventually needed medical treatment.

The judge said Chong had used financial, physical and psychological coercion to maintain control.

For Chong, the consequences are now measured in years.

He will be eligible for parole in May 2030, after serving four years.

He is also likely to be deported to Malaysia after completing his sentence.

A WARNING ABOUT WHAT CAN HAPPEN BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

The Australian Federal Police described the case as a stark example of modern slavery occurring within ordinary communities.

AFP Detective Superintendent Ray Imbriano said modern slavery and human-trafficking offences strip victims of freedom, dignity and fundamental human rights.

“This offending involved the exploitation of a vulnerable woman for personal gain,” he said.

The case also carries a particularly painful irony.

The woman had once trusted Chong enough to help him.

She treated him like family.

But according to the court’s findings, that trust ultimately became one of the very vulnerabilities he exploited.

What began as a relationship that looked like a mother and son ended with a prison sentence — and a judge telling Chong that he had treated a human being “like property you owned.”