PETALING JAYA: The Court of Appeal has maintained the conviction and jail sentence passed in 2020 on Asia Media Group Bhd’s former group accountant Ong Kar Kian, the Securities Commission (SC) said.
However, the appeals court also dismissed a cross-appeal by the SC seeking to reinstate a daily fine of RM1,500 imposed on him by the trial judge but set aside on appeal to the High Court.
In a statement today, the SC said that Ong, also known as Ken Ong, had committed offences under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Amla).
Ong was charged with three counts under Section 32(8)(a) of Amla for failing to comply with written orders to appear before a SC investigating officer to assist in a money laundering investigation.
He was found guilty and was convicted of all three charges by the Kuala Lumpur sessions court on Dec 10, 2020, following a full trial.
Following the conviction, Ong was sentenced to a one-day jail term for each charge and subjected to a RM25,000 fine, with the jail terms ordered to run concurrently.
The sessions court also fined him RM1,500 per day for failing to comply with the said orders over a span of 673 days, giving rise to an aggregate fine of RM1,009,500.
Ong filed an appeal to the High Court four days later on Dec 14, 2020. The High Court affirmed the conviction and sentence in relation to the three charges but set aside the daily fine.
Ong subsequently filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal against the decision of the High Court, whilst the SC filed a cross-appeal seeking to reinstate the daily fine.
The case is the SC’s first prosecution against a person for failing to comply with its written orders issued under Section 32(2)(a) of Amla.
It said the Court of Appeal’s decision has sent a strong message that failure to adhere to the SC’s written orders under Amla is viewed as a serious offence both by the court and the capital market regulator.
Ex-CEO still at large
On Nov 2, 2021, the SC had sought assistance from the public to locate Asia Media’s former managing director and CEO Ricky Wong Shee Kai.
Wong had been served a warrant of arrest by the Kuala Lumpur magistrates’ court on Sept 29, 2021 for offences under the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (CMSA).
According to the SC, Wong was accused of furnishing a false statement relating to Asia Media’s revenue of RM11.13 million to Bursa Malaysia.
He has been at large since Dec 2019.
Asia Media was categorised as a Practice Note 17 company in October 2019 after its shareholders’ equity fell to less than 25% of its issued capital.
As at 5pm, its share price was down by 0.5 sen (4%) at 12 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM37.4 million.