SC lodges police report against Serba Dinamik

The SC said those statements, which may or have the effect of misleading or confusing members of the public, paint a negative image of the SC and its officers.

PETALING JAYA: The Securities Commission (SC) has lodged a police report against Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd for issuing an announcement dated April 21, 2022 that contained statements the SC claims were baseless and malicious.

The SC said those statements, which may or have the effect of misleading or confusing members of the public, paint a negative image of the SC and its officers.

The SC filed the police report to enable the police and other relevant authorities to investigate the matter, including for the offence of defamation under Section 499 of the Penal Code and/or other relevant laws.

The SC said it also sought the police’s cooperation to conduct its investigations with urgency to help safeguard investors’ interest, it said in a statement.

The SC refuted all allegations made by Serba Dinamik, accusing it of acting in bad faith and not following procedures in discharging its duties.

“As the statutory body mandated by Parliament to regulate the Malaysian capital market, the SC is charged with the responsibility of maintaining trust and confidence in the capital market.

“Its enforcement action against Serba Dinamik was undertaken in the public’s interest, to promote the integrity and reliability of financial statements of public listed companies,” said the SC.

“The SC denounces any attempts to intimidate the SC or its officers and undermine its authority and credibility.”

The SC said Serba Dinamik and four of its board members and senior management (the accused) were earlier charged for offences under securities laws in December 2021 for providing a false statement to Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd in relation to Serba Dinamik’s revenue figure of RM6.01bil contained in its consolidated results for the quarter and year ended Dec 31, 2020.

Following Serba Dinamik’s representation to the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the SC said the Attorney-General had on April 7, 2022 agreed for all the charges to be compounded.

The SC noted that the bulk of the allegations made by Serba Dinamik against the SC were issues and arguments put forward by Serba Dinamik in various High Court proceedings filed by Serba Dinamik, which have since been dismissed by the High Court.

In elaborating its case, the SC stated that investigations regarding this matter was conducted in accordance with its statutory powers and established processes and procedures, and categorically rejects the claims by Serba Dinamik as being without any merit.

The SC denied it failed to hand over documents relating to the case, and stated that documents, which would be tendered by the prosecution during the trial, were provided to Serba Dinamik pursuant to Section 51A of the Criminal Procedure Code.

“In fact, the SC had provided substantial documents which are relevant in separate batches to the defence on three separate dates, i.e. Jan 27, 2022, Feb 25, 2022 and April 8, 2022, the receipt of which were acknowledged in writing by the lawyers representing the accused,” it said.

The SC also clarified that the exercise of its investigation powers, including the raid conducted at Serba Dinamik’s office on May 18, 2021, was proper and executed in good faith in the discharge of its regulatory powers.

“Pursuant to Sections 128 and 133 of the Securities Commission Malaysia Act 1993, the SC is empowered to enter any premises without a search warrant if it has reasonable grounds to believe that the delay in obtaining a search warrant may cause any documents or evidence to be interfered with or destroyed or the object of the entry may be frustrated,” it said.

The SC further stated that its investigating officers, prosecuting officers and deputy public prosecutors had not at any time threatened any staff of Serba Dinamik, and that statements recorded from these witnesses were conducted according to due process and the statements were made to the SC voluntarily without any inducement, threat or promise.