Court of Appeal upholds acquittal of ex-Silver Bird directors

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has upheld the acquittal of two former directors of Silver Bird Group Bhd of 134 counts of cheating a bank of RM67.4mil.

A three-member bench led by Justice Kamardin Hashim dismissed the prosecution’s appeal against a lower court’s decision in acquitting and discharging Datuk Jackson Tan Han Kook, 66, and Derec Ching Siew Cheong, 58, of the charges.

In doing so, the bench also upheld the decision made by the Sessions Court and High Court in acquitting and discharging both Tan and Ching.

Kamardin said there was no merit in the appeal and that there was also no appealable error.

“The respondents remain acquitted and discharged, ” said Justice Kamardin, who presided with Justices Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.

Tan, a former managing director of Silver Bird and Ching, a former executive officer, claimed trial in December 2012 to 134 charges of cheating Maybank by using false documents to apply for Banker’s Acceptance facilities.

They were also charged under Section 471 of the Penal Code with using false documents.

Both men were accused of cheating Maybank officers by using false documents when applying for Banker’s Acceptance facilities, inducing them to deposit RM67,435,143 into various bank accounts belonging to three companies – Asian Food Link Sdn Bhd, Violet Bonanza Sdn Bhd and Stanson Marketing Sdn Bhd.

The men were acquitted and discharged by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Feb 22,2016 after the trial judge Mohd Nasir Nordin found that the prosecution had failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.

The prosecution appealed against the decision but the

High Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the acquittal of both men on Dec 12,2017, prompting the case to go to the Court of Appeal.

Lawyer Datuk K. Kumaraendran appeared for Tan while lawyer Datuk N. Sivananthan represented Ching. — Bernama