PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal reinstated a Sessions Court’s decision sentencing a director of CTB Solutions Sdn Bhd to one day in jail and a fine totalling RM2.25mil for failing to attend an investigation by the Securities Commission of Malaysia (SC).
This followed a decision by a panel of three judges, consisting of Justices Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Datuk Noorin Badaruddin on Wednesday (March 5) in dismissing Amirruddin Nin’s appeal to overturn his conviction, one-day prison sentence, and RM100,000 fine on a charge.
The court also allowed the prosecution’s appeal to reinstate Amirruddin’s conviction, jail term and fine for two other charges.
Additionally, the appellate court restored a daily fine of RM2,000 for Amirruddin’s continued failure to comply with the Securities Commission (SC) order for 979 days. This amounted to a total fine of RM1,958,000, in default 12 months in jail.
Amirruddin Nin, 55, was initially convicted by the Sessions Court of three charges for his failure to attend an investigation by the Securities (SC) under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
In delivering the court’s unanimous decision, Justice Noorin said Amirruddin had been specifically directed by the SC to attend the investigation at a specific time, date and place.
"Therefore, the three charges against him for non-compliance of the order could not be treated as a continuous offence,” she said.
She also said that Amirruddin’s overall conduct clearly demonstrated that he was avoiding the order.
On July 14, 2022, the Sessions Court found Amirruddin guilty of failing to attend the money laundering probe conducted by the SC at Persiaran Bukit Kiara here on three separate occasions in 2017 and 2018.
He was sentenced to one day in jail and a fine of RM100,000 in default of a six-month prison sentence on each charge.
The Sessions Court further ordered Amirruddin to pay a daily fine of RM2,000, which amounted to RM1,958,000 in total, in default 12 months in jail, for his continued non-compliance to appear for the investigation. The court had allowed Amirruddin’s application for a stay of execution of the RM1,958,000 fine until his appeal was heard.
In 2023, the High Court upheld Amirruddin’s conviction and sentence for the first charge but it set aside the sentences for the second and third charges. The High Court also reversed the Sessions Court’s order for Amirruddin to pay the daily fine.
Both Amirruddin and the prosecution subsequently appealed to the Court of Appeal.
Amirruddin has already served the prison sentence and paid the RM300,000 fine.
Lawyers Amer Hamzah Arshad, Joshua Tay H’ng Foong and Lee Yee Woei represented Amirruddin while deputy public prosecutors from the Securities Commission Hashley Tajudin, Jonathan Chin and Keith Loo appeared for the prosecution.- Bernama
