PUTRAJAYA (Jan 12): A three-member Court of Appeal (COA) bench on Friday has allowed the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) disciplinary committee's (DC) appeal to reinstate former Damansara member of Parliament Tony Pua’s complaint against Deloitte auditor Ng Yee Hong over the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) audit.
With Friday's decision, Pua’s complaint that Ng purportedly did not do due diligence in the 1MDB audit for 2013 and 2014 financial accounts would go for hearing before the DC.
Judge Datuk Azizah Nawawi, in allowing the appeal, said the charges levelled against Ng by Pua are not identical or the same as an earlier one lodged by Andrew Anand Solomon Devasahayam, the first complainant.
“The present case (Pua’s complaint) is different from Devasahayam’s case as they were proffered at the same time and would have been heard together if Ng did not object to the consolidation.
“Ng had even requested for Pua’s complaint to be deferred after the hearing of Devasahayam’s complaint. Therefore, there is no issue of the disciplinary committee raising an identical complaint… Ng himself had taken the position that Pua’s complaint is not the same as Devasahayam, that they are not identical,” she said.
Azizah said since Ng had conceded that the two complaints are not identical, the issue of res judicata (a matter that had been adjudicated) raised by Ng’s lawyers does not arise.
“For the reasons enumerated above, we find the High Court judge has committed an appealable error that warrants our appellate intervention. The appeals are therefore allowed and the decision of the High Court judge is set aside,” said the COA judge.
Azizah, who sat together with appellate court judges Datuk See Mee Chun and Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, in the unanimous decision ordered Ng to pay RM40,000 costs.
Prior to this, the High Court had on May 11, 2022, allowed Ng’s application to strike out Pua’s complaint dated Nov 5, 2015, and bar the DC from hearing Pua’s complaint, resulting in this appeal.
Following the two complaints lodged, the investigation committee had on Sept 28, 2017, issued separate reports and proposed three distinct charges to be proffered against Ng on Devasahayam’s complaint, and another three charges following Pua’s complaint.
While the proceedings in Devasahayam’s case went on, the DC had sought to fix hearing dates for Pua’s complaint, resulting in Ng’s then solicitors to seek the hearing of Pua’s complaint to be deferred, and this was allowed by the DC.
Consequently, the DC found Ng guilty over Devasahayam’s complaint, and imposed a two-year suspension and a RM5,000 fine. Ng failed in his appeal to the Disciplinary Appeal Board of MIA, and his judicial review application at the High Court was dismissed on Dec 9, 2021.
At Friday’s proceedings, the DC was represented by John Mathew, while Porres Royan appeared for the MIA and Datuk Malik Imtiaz Sarwar for Ng.