Land rights lawyer acquitted, discharged
KOTA KINABALU: A renowned land rights lawyer was acquitted and discharged by the Magistrate’s Court here yesterday from four counts of using as genuine a forged undated Memorandum of Transfer of Land and a sale and purchase agreement between two men and a company.
Judge Jason Juga, who presided as magistrate, ordered the acquittal and discharge of Datuk Kong Hong Ming from all the charges under Section 471 and punishable under Section 465 of the Penal Code. The indictment carries a jail term of up two years or with a fine or both, upon conviction.
In his reserved ruling, the judge ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against Kong.
On the first and second charge, Kong was accused of dishonestly using, as genuine, the sale and purchase agreement dated October 31, 2005 for the sale and purchase of land between two men and a company.
The offence was alleged to have taken place at the office of the Land Registry Division of Sabah Land and Surveys Department, and at the Registration Division of the High Court of Kota Kinabalu, on September 2, 2010 and September 11, 2013, respectively.
On the third and fourth charge, Kong was alleged to have used the purportedly fraudulent Memorandum of Transfer of land between the same parties at the same places on February 9, 2012 and March 24, 2014, respectively.
Apart from the foregoing, the court also ordered for Kong’s bail of RM8,000 for the first two charges and another RM16,000 with RM8,000 deposited for the third and fourth charges to be refunded.
The prosecution had called 15 witnesses to testify against Kong, who was represented by counsel James Tsai and Marry Lee, since the trial commenced on December 18, 2017.