PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court order to freeze assets worth up to RM169.22mil belonging to businessman Datuk Ricky Wong Shee Kai, his mother Teh Sew Wan, and their company Wong SK Holdings Sdn Bhd.
The freeze was granted in a civil suit filed by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) over allegations of market misconduct on Monday (Aug 10).
A three-judge panel, chaired by Federal Court judge Datuk Ravinthran N. Paramaguru and comprising Court of Appeal judges Datuk Dr Choo Kah Sing and Datuk Leonard David Shim, delivered a unanimous decision.
The panel ruled that the High Court judge had correctly applied the relevant legal principles and had exercised his discretion properly.
Justice Shim, who delivered the court's decision via Zoom, stated that the panel found the High Court had the authority to grant interim and inter partes injunctions under Section 360 of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (CMSA).
This provision allows the court to restrain the appellants from disposing of or dealing with their assets while the case is pending.
"It is our unanimous decision that Order 29 Rules of Court 2012 and the common law principles of Mareva injunction do not apply to an application for a statutory injunction under Section 360 of the CMSA.
"We therefore find that there was a prima facie case that the appellants have jointly and severally contravened Section 179 of the CMSA and made unlawful pecuniary gains of at least RM56mil from the fraud. Thus, it is desirable for the Court to grant the interim injunction under Section 360(2) of the CMSA," the judge said.
Justice Shim also noted that the court found, in any case, that there was a good arguable case and a real risk of dissipation of assets.
He pointed out that more than RM3.5mil from the proceeds had been used to purchase a high-end property at Four Seasons Place, which supported the finding of a genuine risk that the assets might be disposed of or removed from the jurisdiction.
"It is undisputed that Madam Teh (Teh Sew Wan) co-signed 71 cheques and payment vouchers payable to the various nominee companies, and the proceeds of the corporate exercise flowed into the bank accounts of Ricky Wong and Wong SK Holdings.
"The circumstances in which the alleged fraudulent scheme was perpetrated against BPI - involving the layering of corporate entities, fake invoicing, transfer of proceeds from BPI to the various nominee companies controlled by Ricky Wong, and eventually into the bank accounts of Ricky Wong and Wong SK Holdings shows that there is a prima facie case of breach of Section 179 of the CMSA, and it is reasonably likely that the Appellants may dispose of the assets," he said.
The panel also dismissed the appellants' contention that the SC had failed to disclose the revocation of earlier freezing and seizure orders, finding that it had been fully disclosed in the SC's affidavit, written submissions, and the revocation order itself had been exhibited before the High Court.
"Based on the aforesaid reasons, it is our unanimous decision that the learned High Court Judge exercised his discretion based on correct principles, and appellate interference is not warranted. Hence, the decision of the High Court is affirmed, and the appeals herein are dismissed with costs," said the judge.
The court ordered the appellants to pay costs of RM50,000 for each of the four appeals, totalling RM200,000. The main trial in this matter is currently ongoing before the High Court.
Counsel Tan Sri Cecil Abraham, Alex Tan and Chin Jia Yi appeared for Teh, while Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee appeared for Wong and Wong SK Holdings.
The SC was represented by Datuk Lim Chee Wee, Kwan Will Sen, Ng Kar Man, Esther Hong and Manveer Singh. - Bernama
