THE Kuala Lumpur High Court has ruled that the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) proved its case against five individuals over a scheme to defraud and cause wrongful losses to four publicly listed companies, ordering them to pay a total of RM103.75 million.
The five defendants are Tey Por Yee, Lim Chye Guan, See Poh Yee, Francis Tan Hock Leong and Faizatul Ikmi Abdul Razak.
The four companies affected at the material time were Nexgram Holdings Berhad, R&A Telecommunication Group Berhad, Asdion Berhad and Ire-Tex Corporation Berhad.
The SC said the defendants had contravened, among others, sections 179(a), 179(b), 317A and 370 of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (CMSA).
The ruling followed a civil suit filed by the SC on Nov 29, 2022, over an alleged scheme that caused wrongful losses of RM120.6 million to the four companies.
Under Section 179 of the CMSA, a person is prohibited from directly or indirectly using any scheme to defraud, or engaging in any act, practice or course of business that operates as a fraud or deceit in connection with the subscription, purchase or sale of securities.
Section 317A prohibits a director or officer of a listed corporation from doing any act with the intention of causing wrongful loss to the corporation.
The SC alleged that between December 2013 and July 2014, Tey, Lim, See and Francis Tan, acting in various capacities as directors and officers of the four listed companies, siphoned proceeds from fundraising exercises conducted by the companies.
Faizatul was alleged to have abetted or furthered the siphoning.
The trial was held from Oct 8, 2025 to April 29, 2026, during which the SC called 33 witnesses to establish its case.
The defendants gave evidence in their own defence, except Francis Tan, who had been declared bankrupt and did not appear in the proceedings.
In delivering the judgment yesterday, High Court Judge Dato’ Indera Mohd Arief Emran Arifin found evidence that the defendants had taken control of the four listed companies and procured fundraising exercises before the proceeds were siphoned from the companies.
The court ordered the defendants to pay RM100.6 million to the SC under Section 360 of the CMSA.
It also imposed civil penalties totalling RM2.65 million, comprising RM1 million against Tey, RM600,000 against Lim and RM350,000 each against See, Francis Tan and Faizatul.
The five defendants were also barred for 10 years from acting as directors of, or being concerned or taking part directly or indirectly in the management of, any publicly listed company from the date of judgment.
They were further ordered to pay RM500,000 in total costs to the SC.
To preserve the proceeds of the judgment, the court restrained the defendants from dealing with their assets until all sums ordered had been paid in full.
The SC had previously obtained a High Court injunction in 2022 to prevent the dissipation of the defendants’ assets pending trial, restraining Tey, Lim, See and Faizatul from dealing with funds in their respective bank accounts.
No injunction was sought against Francis Tan as he is an undischarged bankrupt.
Tey, Lim, See and Faizatul subsequently appealed, but the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision on Aug 21, 2024.
The SC said the ruling reinforced the accountability of directors and officers entrusted with managing publicly listed companies.
It said it remained committed to ensuring that misconduct involving the abuse of corporate structures, misappropriation of fundraising proceeds and conduct causing wrongful losses to listed corporations would not be tolerated. - August 20, 2026
