This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on January 12, 2018
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday postponed to Feb 5 the sentencing of four former Genneva Sdn Bhd directors convicted of money laundering, due to confusion over the charges that are still relevant after the number of charges were dropped to 224 from 760 previously.
Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, the counsel for Chin Wai Leong (pic), said more time is needed to clear up the confusion over which charges are still relevant, as the charges that have been dropped under the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 (Bafia), must also be dropped under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (Amla).
However, for the charges under Bafia that still stand, it does not necessarily mean the directors would be liable under Amla. “Give us a little time and let us find out. We should find out about this first to better advise the court before we proceed,” said Muhammad Shafee.
He added that he is cognisant that Judge Datuk Seri Zakaria Sam has limited time as he will be retiring in early March and suggested the case be pushed to end-January or early February.
Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud agrees with the suggestion for the postponement.
“There is some confusion and to clarify the matter, a bit more time is needed. I understand that Yang Arif (his honour Zakaria) will be retiring in March, so I agree with the suggestion to postpone it to end-January,” he said, before the court set Feb 5 as the new sentencing date.
On Dec 12, the appeals court found Chin, 42, fellow ex-directors Ng Poh Weng, 68, Marcus Yee Yuen Seng, 66, and Liew Chee Wah, 64, as well as Genneva guilty of 293 counts of money laundering. They were also convicted of five counts of illegal deposit-taking, involving more than RM100 million.
The proceeding was initially set for Jan 4, but was adjourned to yesterday after the court was informed that Chin had appointed new lawyers led by Muhammad Shafee.
Muhammad Shafee was not present in court on Jan 4 and another lawyer, Sarah Abishegum, sought an adjournment to allow Muhammad Shafee to attend court and mitigate his client’s sentence.
This case can be traced back to as early as July 21, 2009, when Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) started investigating Genneva on suspicion of illegal deposit-taking activities.
Slightly more than a year later, the four ex-directors were charged in the Sessions Court. In March 2011, they were slapped with additional charges.
However, in May 2013, the Sessions Court acquitted them. Upon appeal, the case went to the High Court, which affirmed the acquittal on Sept 20, 2016. The Attorney-General’s Chambers and BNM then appealed the decision.
In 2012, then deputy finance minister Datuk Awang Adek Husin told Parliament that Genneva had 35,000 investors, and the company had raised some RM10 billion from the public. By end-2012, a statement by the authorities revealed Genneva’s liabilities exceeded 10 times its assets.