PUTRAJAYA – The Court of Appeal here today set aside the two-year imprisonment imposed by the high court on former Transmile chief executive officer Gan Boon Aun for furnishing a misleading financial statement on the company to Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd (Bursa Malaysia).
Instead, a three-member bench comprising justices Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail, Datuk M. Gunalan and Datuk Azman Abdullah restored the sessions court’s decision in sentencing Gan to a day in jail and a fine of RM2.5 million.
The court allowed Gan’s appeal to set aside the high court order and reinstated the August 27, 2020 decision by the sessions court.
Justice Hadhariah, who delivered the court’s decision, ruled that the high court’s decision in increasing the jail sentence on Gan was null and void as it contravened Section 314 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
She said that both the notice of appeal and notice of hearing had not been served personally by the prosecution to Gan at the high court as required under Section 314.
She also said there were no merits in the argument by the Securities Commission that Gan’s lawyer did not have the locus standi (legal standing) to file the notice of appeal to the Court of Appeal against the high court’s decision.
The Securities Commission contended that the notice of appeal filed by Gan’s lawyer was wrong as he received instruction from Gan’s daughter to file the notice of appeal, adding that the instruction must come from Gan himself.
Gan’s lawyer Guok Ngek Seong, when contacted, confirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal.
Gan left Malaysia before the hearing of his appeal at the high court to set aside his conviction and sentence imposed by the sessions court and the cross-appeal on the sentence brought by the Securities Commission.
He had already served the one-day jail term and paid the fine.
On January 25 last year, the high court allowed the Securities Commission’s appeal and increased Gan’s jail sentence from one day to 24 months jail.
Gan was found guilty by the sessions court for furnishing misleading statements, with intent to deceive, relating to Transmile’s revenue in the company’s Quarterly Report on Unaudited Consolidated Results for the Financial Year ending December 31, 2006.
The misleading statement was on the revenue amount involving over RM333 million of fictitious sales. Gan’s conviction is under Section 122B read together with Section 122(1) of the Securities Industry Act 1983.
Datuk V. Sithambaram and Guok appeared for Gan in the court proceedings today, while deputy public prosecutor from the Securities Commission Mohd Hafiz Mohd Yusoff appeared for the prosecution. – Bernama, July 10, 2023
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