Murder of Yong Boon Cheong

On 4 July 2014, 54-year-old Malaysian millionaire Yong Boon Cheong went missing after being seen at a coffee shop in Johor, Malaysia. Witnesses reported seeing a group of men assault him inside the shop and forcibly take him into a vehicle; bystanders did not intervene, believing it to be a gang-related dispute. Yong's wife reported him missing the same day. About 24 hours later, the burnt remains of a man were discovered at an oil palm plantation near Kampung Seri Paya in Batu Pahat, after a local resident smelled burning and found a human hand among charred debris under a burnt tyre. A pathologist determined the victim had been stabbed in the chest and burnt after death. DNA testing confirmed on 15 July 2014 that the remains belonged to Yong.

Police detained seven suspects on 8 July 2014 at a hotel in Iskandar Puteri; five were later reclassified as witnesses and released, while two men — ship cleaner Izwanuddin Kasim and Singaporean businessman Noriskandar Zainal Yahya — were charged with murder on 27 July 2014.

At trial in the Johor Bahru High Court, evidence indicated the confrontation began after Izwanuddin's car collided with Yong's, leading to a dispute over repair costs. The two men and Yong traveled to several locations, and Yong was assaulted at a restaurant when he attempted to flee. Noriskandar's girlfriend was later dropped off at a hospital, after which prosecutors alleged Yong was killed by Izwanuddin during the continued journey. Yong's body was subsequently burnt at the Batu Pahat oil palm estate. An autopsy found a fatal stab wound to the chest consistent with a brass knuckle blade found in Izwanuddin's possession, and a petrol vendor testified to selling Izwanuddin fuel on the day of the killing.

On 4 August 2016, Noriskandar pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of abetting the disposal of Yong's body and was sentenced to prison, with later sources indicating the term was revised to eight years. On 1 October 2017, Justice Datuk Mohd Sofian Abd Razak found Izwanuddin guilty of murder, ruling that circumstantial evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that he had stabbed Yong to death, and sentenced him to death by hanging.

Izwanuddin's appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on 30 September 2019, and the Federal Court of Malaysia affirmed his murder conviction and death sentence on 11 November 2021. Following Malaysia's April 2023 abolition of the mandatory death penalty and subsequent legal reforms allowing re-sentencing applications, it was not confirmed whether Izwanuddin applied for re-sentencing. As of 2024, he remains on death row. Noriskandar was released after completing his eight-year sentence in 2022.