Guilty of money-laundering and receiving unlicensed deposits involving transactions amounting to more than RM200 million.
Four former directors of defunct gold bar investment company Genneva Sdn Bhd (GSB) were each sentenced to eight years in jail by the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya after being found guilty of 154 counts of money-laundering and four counts of receiving unlicensed deposits involving transactions worth more than RM200 million.
The four were also fined RM1 million each.
A three-man panel chaired by Justice Mohtarudin Baki meted out the sentences on Marcus Yee Yuen Seng, 65, Ng Poh Weng, 67, Liew Chee Wah, 63, and Chin Wai Leong, 41.
Reportedly, Yee, Ng and Chin hold the title of ‘Datuk’.
The panel ordered the sentences to begin from Wednesday after rejecting a review application by counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and interim stay of the prison sentence.
Mohtarudin, who presided with Justices Zakaria Sam and Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil also imposed an RM2 million fine against GSB on five counts of receiving non-licensed deposits under the Banking and Financial Institutions Act (Bafia).
The court sentenced the four to five years in jail and a fine of RM1 million in default of one year’s jail for charges of receiving non-licensed deposits under Bafia, and another three years’ imprisonment for money-laundering under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Amla).
“The two penalties will run separately,” said Mohtarudin, adding that a mere fine was not suitable for money-laundering as it was a serious crime.
He said the panel unanimously found the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.
The four had been found guilty of 224 counts of money-laundering on Dec 12 last year.
However, the number of charges were reduced from 224 to 156 earlier this month, while two more were dropped yesterday.
Subsequently, Yee faced 28 charges, while Ng faced 68 charges, Liew faced 12 and Chin faced 46 charges, respectively.
In mitigation, Shafee urged the court to take into consideration that the buying and selling of gold products were not regulated until 2013.
“They had consulted BNM on this and BNM had no objection to it,” Shafee told the court, pointing out also that the number of charges was inconsistent as it had been reduced.
He pleaded for leniency and asked that only a fine be imposed as this was the first offence for the four, adding that most of them had health complications due to their age.
However, deputy public prosecutor Hamdan Hamzah asked the court to impose seven years’ imprisonment separately under Bafia and Amla, and for a fine of RM1 million each, given the seriousness of their offence.
The four men, who were standing in the dock, appeared shocked at the sentence while some of their family members were seen breaking down in tears as the court policemen escorted them to the lock-up.
On May 16, 2013, the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court freed the four after finding the defence had raised reasonable doubt over the prosecution’s case.
On Sept 20, 2016, the Kuala Lumpur High Court upheld the Sessions Court decision after finding that the investment company was only carrying out physical gold trading activities and there was no evidence that the company took unlicensed deposits.
The four ex-directors allegedly committed the money-laundering offences at Menara Public Bank, 146 Jalan Ampang in Kuala Lumpur between July 2008 and June 2009, and the illegal deposit-taking offences at the company’s premises in Jalan Kuchai Maju 6, Kuala Lumpur, between November 2008 and July 2009.