Former Silver Bird director and CEO acquitted of CBT charge

KUALA LUMPUR: A former director and a former CEO were acquitted of a charge of criminal breach of trust involving RM13mil in company funds.

The two - Koperasi Permodalan Felda Malaysia Berhad (KPF) former director Datuk Sarchu Sawal and Silver Bird Group Berhad former chief executive officer Datuk Jackson Tan Han Kook – were accused of misappropriating funds belonging to KPF Quality Foods Sdn Bhd (KPFQ) amounting to RM 13,128,871.46 in their capacity as directors of the company.

KPFQ is a company that was formed through a joint venture between KPF, Consortium Fresh Foods Quality Berhad (CFFQ) and Stanson Marketing Sdn Bhd (SMSB).

They allegedly committed criminal breach of trust by misappropriating the funds through 20 banker’s acceptance documents.

Sarchu and Tan were accused of committing the offence at level 2, Blok B Anjung Felda, Jalan Maktab here between August 2011 and February 2012.

Both faced a jail term of not less than two years jail and not more than 20 years, whipping and fine if they had been found guilty of the offence under Section 409 of the Penal Code.

However Judge Rosbiahanin Ariffin acquitted both Sarchu and Tan without their defence being called

Datuk Mohd Firuuz Jaffril represented Sarchu while Datuk K. Kumaraendran, William Leong and Magita Hari Mogan represented Tan.

Approached outside the courtroom, Kumarendran said that the prosecution had failed to prove their case as both material witnesses were unreliable and untrustworthy at the close of the prosecution’s case.

“It was further submitted that the documents relied upon by the prosecution were inadmissible documents,” said Kumarendran.

Kumaraendran said that a full written judgment would be given should the matter be taken up on appeal.

He added that deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Ilmami maintained that the offence was proven and that material witnesses were not accomplices.

Meanwhile Muhammad Ilmami confirmed that the court acquitted and discharged Sarchu and Tan without their defence being called.