Serba Dinamik executives acquitted of false statement charges

KUALA LUMPUR: Top executives of oil and gas company Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd, including its CEO Datuk Mohd Abdul Karim Abdullah, have been freed of charges involving offences under the Capital Markets and Services Act (CMSA) 2007.

This followed a RM16mil compound payment imposed by the Securities Commission (SC) that was settled on May 9, the Sessions Courts heard.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Hashley Tajudin, who appeared before Judge Kamarudin Kamsun in one of the four separate courts, said Mohd Abdul Karim and group chief financial officer Azhan Azmi had settled their compounds of RM3mil each.

“The SC confirmed yesterday that the compounds have been settled.

“Following the compound payment, the prosecution is applying for the charges to be dropped under Section 254 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

“We have no intention to pursue (the case). Therefore, we propose an order of discharge amounting to an acquittal for both,” he added.

He also said similar applications would be made in the cases of Serba Dinamik (charged in its capacity as an entity), its executive director Datuk Syed Nazim Syed Faisal and accounts and finance vice-president Muhammad Hafiz Othman.

Lawyer Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, who represented Mohd Abdul Karim and Azhan, had no objection to the acquittal and asked the court to return his clients’ passports and bail.

Kamarudin then ordered for the acquittal and the return of the bail.

The executives were previously charged separately in the Sessions Courts of judges Ahmad Kamar Jamaluddin, Emelia Kaswati Mohamad Khalid and Sabariah Othman.

On Dec 28 last year, Serba Dinamik, Syed Nazim, Azhan and Muhammad Hafiz were charged by the SC for submitting a false statement to Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd.Serba Dinamik was charged under Section 369(a)(B) of the CMSA 2007 involving a false statement relating to the revenue recorded by the group in its financial report for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2020 (4QFY20).

The false statement submitted to Bursa Malaysia was in relation to a revenue figure of RM6.014bil contained in the quarterly report.

Syed Nazim, Azhan and Muhammad Hafiz Othman were charged with trying to furnish the alleged false statement.

On Dec 29, Mohd Abdul Karim, in his capacity as a director of the group, was charged with the same offence under Section 369(a)(B) of the CMSA in relation to the same alleged false statement.

Meanwhile, at the Shah Alam Sessions Court on the same day, Muhammad Hafiz was slapped with an additional charge for allegedly creating fictitious sales, causing falsified revenue to be recorded in Serba Dinamik’s earnings report for the quarter and year ended Dec 31, 2020.On March 17, the company sent representations to the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC).

On April 11, the courts were informed that the representations were “conditionally accepted” by the AGC.