KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 28): The criminal case of Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd and its officers for submitting a false statement to Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd will have a case management on April 11 after prosecutors promised to submit the remaining documents to the defence.
During three separate case managements on Monday (Feb 28) in the Sessions Court, the respective judges agreed and set April 11 as case management for the cases.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Hashley Tajudin told all three judges separately during the course of the morning that they had only submitted 30% to 40% of the documents to the defence, and said that there were still 60% of documents to submit, which would range in the tens of thousands.
Sessions Court Judge Sabariah Othman, however, warned the prosecution that the case would have to proceed without any delays and set April 11 as the final case management date for the handing over of documents.
In another Sessions Court where Serba Dinamik group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Dr Mohd Abdul Karim Abdullah appeared before Judge Kamarudin Kamsun, his lawyer Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammad pressed prosecutors for a date for the documents to be handed over.
The judge then advised the defence that this case “is not like other cases” and asked them for patience in receiving the documents from the prosecution.
Last year, Serba Dinamik was charged under Section 369(a)(B) of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (CMSA) involving a false statement relating to the revenue recorded by the group in its financial report for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2020.
The oil and gas group’s executive director Datuk Syed Nazim Syed Faisal, group chief financial officer Azhan Azmi, and vice-president of accounts and finance Muhammad Hafiz Othman were each respectively charged under Section 369(a)(B), read together with Section 367(1) of the same Act. All of the accused had pleaded not guilty.
Section 369(a)(B) of the CMSA stipulates that a person who, with the intent to deceive, makes or furnishes any false or misleading statement or report to the commission, a stock exchange, a derivatives exchange or an approved clearing house relating to the affairs of a listed corporation commits an offence.
Abdul Karim, in his capacity as a director of the group, was charged under Section 369(a)(B) of the CMSA, in relation to a false statement contained in the oil and gas company’s report for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2010.
The false statement in question was submitted to Bursa in relation to the revenue figure of RM6.014 billion contained in the quarterly report.
As Abdul Karim was a director of the group, he is deemed to have committed the offence under Section 367(1) of the CMSA, and punishable under Section 369 of the Act.
If found guilty, he is liable to a jail term not exceeding 10 years and a fine not exceeding RM3 million.