KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 17): Low Thiam Hock, the former executive chairman of Repco Holdings Bhd, is appealing the Court of Appeal's (COA) Oct 12 dismissal of his application to review the Sessions Court notes of proceedings which his defence team claimed were in conflict and not authenticated by the trial judge, in finding him guilty of market manipulation.
His lawyers New Sin Yew and Sarah Abishegam, as well as Securities Commission Deputy Public Prosecutor Roz Mawar Rozain, confirmed this to theedgemarkets.com when met today
"We filed the notice of appeal within 14 days after the decision was made last Oct 12," said New.
Today was fixed for case management at the High Court before Judicial Commissioner Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid, who will likely hear Low's appeal over his conviction, where the Sessions Court had sentenced him to five years' jail and a RM5 million fine for a market manipulation offence more than 20 years ago.
Following Low's appeal, Azhar fixed March 12, 2021 for further case management.
On Oct 12, a three-member COA bench led by Federal Court judge Datuk Rhodzhariah Bujang unanimously dismissed his appeal for a review of the Sessions Court notes used in his trial that found him guilty and convicted him, as the defence alleged there were conflicting notes of proceedings by Sessions Court Judge Mat Ghani Abdullah provided to the High Court.
Hence, this renders doubts as to whether the trial judge referred to the right notes in reaching a decision in 2016 to convict their client, they argued.
Justice Rhodzhariah ruled that it was obvious the Sessions Court judge referred to the right notes that had been agreed upon by both parties.
“Thus, the failure of the Sessions Court judge to sign and authenticate [the notes] was not fatal and not detrimental to the conviction entered. Hence, the appeal is dismissed,” the top judge ruled.
The other judges on the bench were COA judges Justice Datuk Has Zanah Mehat and Justice Datuk Abu Bakar Jais.
It was previously reported that Low, who is known within the share market community as Repco Low, was convicted for acts calculated to create a misleading appearance, with respect to the price of Repco company's shares on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) on Dec 3, 1997.
This is an offence under Section 84(1) of the Securities Industry Act 1983.
Low was initially acquitted by the Sessions Court without his defence being called, and the decision was upheld by the High Court. On appeal by the prosecution, the COA reversed the earlier decision and ordered him to enter into his defence.
Following the trial, he was convicted by the Sessions Court four years ago, which he is appealing at the High Court, where his defence team noticed the inconsistency in the judge's notes and filed the application to review.