The Court of Appeal has affirmed the High Court’s decision ordering former Patimas Computers Bhd executive director Ng Back Heang to pay RM1.24 million to the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) for insider trading.
Bernama reported the SC as saying that a three-member bench comprising Justices P Ravinthran, Choo Kah Sing and Nadzarin Wok Nordin, in a unanimous decision, dismissed Ng’s appeal with costs of RM30,000.
The High Court in 2022 had found Ng liable for insider trading under Section 188(2)(a) of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (CMSA).
“The Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s judgment ordering Ng to pay RM1.24 million to the SC, equivalent to three times the amount of losses he avoided as a result of insider trading.
“Ng was also ordered to pay a civil penalty of RM700,000 to the SC and is barred from being appointed as a director of any listed company for five years, effective from the date of the High Court judgment on Nov 17, 2022. The High Court also awarded RM100,000 in costs to the SC,” it said in a statement.
The offence occurred when Ng disposed of 16.5 million Patimas shares he owned between May and July 2012, while in possession of material non-public information.
The information was in relation to audit queries and issues about suspicious transactions between Patimas and its top debtors.
The matter had been raised and discussed by Patimas’ external auditor during a meeting with the company’s management.
According to the SC, on July 31, 2012, the Patimas board of directors announced to Bursa Malaysia that the company would not be able to issue its audited annual financial statements for the financial period from Jan 1, 2011, to March 31, 2012, due to unresolved significant audit findings or queries.
The case was handled by SC’s deputy public prosecutors Hafiz Yusoff, Mageswary Karroppiah, and Eunice Ong. Ng was represented by lawyer Jasbeer Singh.
The decision comes months after the Federal Court unanimously dismissed an application by another former Patimas executive, ex-deputy chairman Raymond Yap, who had sought leave to appeal against his liability for an insider trading offence committed in 2012.
The apex court in May had found that Yap had failed to cross the threshold to obtain leave as required under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.
Yap had sought to challenge the Court of Appeal’s unanimous decision on Nov 27, 2024 upholding the High Court’s finding that he was liable for insider trading of Patimas shares in 2012.
The SC, which initiated the civil suit in 2020, alleged that Yap had breached Sections 188(2)(a) and (b) of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 by disposing of 43.8 million Patimas shares held by former managing director Law Siew Ngoh between June and July 2012.
The SC claimed that at the time, Yap was in possession of material, non-public information related to audit queries and issues regarding suspicious transactions between Patimas and its top debtors.
