S’porean charged over RM230mil in illegal deposits
KUALA LUMPUR: He was released from a prison in Singapore on Wednesday but barely a day later, he was brought to a Sessions Court here to face two counts of accepting illegal deposits, said to be amounting to RM230mil.
Singaporean Phang Wah, 58, who is the founder of Sunshine Empire Sdn Bhd, claimed trial to two counts of accepting deposits from the depositors without a valid licence under Section 6(4) of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act.
Phang, at the time of the commission of the offence, was assisting in the management of Sunshine Empire, an investment company based here.
For the first charge, Phang allegedly committed the offence at Menara Uncang Emas in Jalan Loke Yew between July 14 and Oct 17, 2006.
For the second charge, he allegedly committed the offence at Bangunan KUB.com, Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, between Oct 18, 2006 and April 4, 2008.
Phang was charged under Section 25(1) Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 (Act 372) which carries a maximum 10 years’ imprisonment or a maximum fine of RM10mil or both, upon conviction.
Bank Negara prosecuting officer Alvin Ong asked the court to fix bail at RM1.5mil for each of the charges.
“In this case, it will be proven that the deposits collected is around RM230mil,” he told the court yesterday.
Lawyer Shah Rizal Abdul Manan, who represented Phang, asked the court to impose a lower bail.
Sessions Court judge Hasbullah Adam then fixed RM1mil bail for each count.
The court also ordered the accused to provide two Malaysians residing in Kuala Lumpur or Selangor to be bailors.
The case is set for mention on Jan 26 next year. Phang raised the bail.