KUALA LUMPUR – Aker Engineering Malaysia Group senior deputy president Ahmad Hatta Kamaruzzaman was today acquitted and discharged by the high court here on a charge of misleading the Registrar of Companies by allegedly submitting a false statement five years ago.
The court also ordered the release of Aker Engineering Malaysia director Mohd Yusof Ab Rahman, who was charged with falsifying documents in the company’s application for the renewal of a licence from an oil and gas company in 2018.
This followed high court judge Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin’s decision in allowing the applications by Hatta, 51, and Yusof, 55, to quash the charges against them.
In ordering the two men to be released, judge Jamil in his judgment said the court found the charges against them to be unfounded.
“The court also found that Hatta’s argument that the Companies Commission of Malaysia was never misled has merit,” said the judge.
In Yusof’s case, the judge said the charge under Section 471 of the Penal Code made against the applicant was defective.
“This is because an offence committed through another person is an offence that is not provided for under the law,” he added.
Hatta, 51, was charged with misleading the Registrar of Companies with a false statement regarding material details in the Annual Return of Company Having Share Capital Aker Engineering Malaysia Sdn Bhd, dated May 19, 2017, which is a document required to be submitted to the Registrar of Companies in accordance with the provisions of Section 68 of the Companies Act 2016.
He was charged with committing the offence in June 2017, at Menara SSM@Sentral, No. 7 Jalan Stesen Sentral 5, here.
The charge was framed under Section 591(2)(a) of the Companies Act 2016 which provides imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine not exceeding RM3 million, if found guilty.
As for Yusof, he was charged, by using the same document, which was attached as a supporting document and stating that he was not a trustee for the shareholder in Aker Engineering, through an employee of the firm, Wan Suet Yin, for the renewal of the licence Standardised Work & Equipment Categories through the Enterprise Buyer Portal, where he is the trustee.
He was charged with committing the offence at the Petronas Twin Towers on April 26, 2018.
The charge, framed under Section 471 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 465 of the same law, provides imprisonment for up to two years or a fine or both, if found guilty.
At today’s proceeding, the prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Law Chin How from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, while Hatta and Yusof were represented by lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad.
After the proceeding at the high court, both parties then informed the relevant sessions court judges hearing Hatta and Yusof’s case of today’s decision.
Sessions court judges Azura Alwi and Rozina Ayob then recorded the high court’s decision and also ordered for the bail money of RM10,000 each posted by Hatta and Yusof to be returned. – Bernama, December 23, 2022
