KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 28): The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) on Tuesday secured a warrant of arrest for Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd chief executive officer (CEO) and group managing director Datuk Mohd Abdul Karim Abdullah, who is currently at large.
Earlier the same day, the regulator charged the group, its director as well as officers for submitting a false statement to Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd — which is an offence under Section 369(a)(B) of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (CMSA) — in relation to a revenue figure of RM6.014 billion contained in Serba Dinamik’s financial report for the quarter and year ended Dec 31, 2020.
The SC had also relayed its intent to charge Mohd Abdul Karim, but could not locate him, which led to its application for the arrest warrant.
The individuals charged were executive director Datuk Syed Nazim Syed Faisal, group chief financial officer Azhan Azmi, and vice president of accounts and finance Muhammad Hafiz Othman. All three claimed trial to the charges.
Sessions Court judge Sabariah Othman fixed bail at RM300,000 with two sureties each, and ordered the passports of all the accused to be surrendered to court. All three are also required to report to the SC’s investigating officer on a monthly basis.
Independent non-executive director Abu Bakar Uzir, who appeared for Serba Dinamik to answer the charge against the group, also claimed trial, said the SC in a statement.
Under Section 369(a)(B) of the CMSA, a person found to have made a false or misleading statement to the SC, the exchange or approved clearing house, if convicted, faces a jail term of not more than 10 years and a fine of not less than RM3 million, or both.
The SC’s investigation into Serba Dinamik started in May 2021 following a Section 320 CMSA report by KPMG to the regulator.
KPMG's action was in line with auditors' statutory obligation to immediately report to the regulator if they reasonably believe that there are matters that may constitute a breach or non-performance of any requirement of securities laws, rules of the stock exchange or any matter that may adversely affect, to a material extent, the financial position of a listed company, said the SC.
The case has been fixed for hearing on Jan 27.