KUALA LUMPUR - A MALAYSIAN gynaecologist accused of running a baby-selling racket has been charged with cheating and forgery over the creation of false identities for the newborns, a report said.

Robert Luk was slapped with eight counts in courts in southern Johor state, including falsifying information about the biological parents of four babies to obtain birth certificates, the New Straits Times said on Tuesday.

Luk was also charged with using forged application forms for the birth documents and for lying over the identity of the biological parents. He pleaded not guilty to all the allegations, the newspaper said.

The 61-year-old gynaecologist was arrested last month by police who uncovered the baby-selling ring in Johor, which neighbours Singapore.

Four infants were seized in the raid, and 23 people detained including clinic staff and a government registrar from the National Registration Department.

The syndicate reportedly bought babies from poor women who were talked out of having abortions, and then sold them to childless couples.

The couples paid up to RM20,000 (S$8,400) for a baby, depending on their race, while the birth mothers were paid as little as RM700 but given free health care and accommodation during their pregnancy. -- AFP