Acquittal of ex-director, former COO upheld

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here yesterday upheld the decision by the Sessions Court to acquit and discharge Koperasi Permodalan Felda Quality (KPFQ) former director Datuk Tan Han Kook and former chief operating officer (COO) of the company Ching Siew Cheong from 134 counts of cheating Malayan Banking Berhad of RM67.4mil. Judicial Commissioner Datuk Mohamad Shariff Abu Samah made the decision after finding that the Sessions Court judge had not erred in making the decision.

In his judgment, Mohamad Shariff said the High Court found the evidence of two prosecution witnesses who were the fourth and fifth witnesses in the case not credible and not corroborated by other witnesses.

“Following this, the court dismisses the prosecution’s appeal while retaining the decision to acquit and discharge the two accused from the charge without calling for their defence,” he said.

Tan, 61, and Ching, 53, were jointly charged with cheating officers of Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) by using false documents in applying for Bankers Acceptance facilities.

Both the men had allegedly dishonestly induced bank officers to deposit a total of RM67,435,143 into various bank accounts belonging to three companies, namely Asia Food Link Sdn Bhd, Violet Bonanza Sdn Bhd and Standson Marketing Sdn Bhd..

They allegedly committed the offence at Maybank, Level 8, Menara Hap Seng, Jalan P.Ramlee near here between October 2011 and February 2012.-Bernama