The sessions court here has acquitted a technology company’s former CEO of two criminal breach of trust charges brought in connection with the purchase of 20,000 tablets valued at RM31.6 million nine years ago.
Judge Awang Kerisnada Awang Mahmud held that the prosecution had failed to fulfil all the elements needed to establish a prima facie case under Section 405 of the Penal Code against Her Chor Siong.
Her was accused of dishonestly misappropriating the sum through the procurement, with the prosecution contending that his actions had directly caused the company, Cuscapi Bhd, to incur the full extent of its financial loss.
However, Awang said there was no evidence to show that Her had acted beyond the mandate given by the company’s board of directors in executing the purchase.
“In fact, he sent out emails to the directors to explain the purchase, the increased price (charged by suppliers) and how it was to be financed.
“Some of them even asked for further clarification from the accused, which he responded to accordingly.
“It was on this basis that a directors’ circular resolution was signed (to authorise the purchase). Where is the element of dishonesty? There is none to speak of,” he said in his ruling today.
Awang said several of the company’s directors were called to testify for the prosecution, but their testimonies merely sought to shift the blame to the accused.
The directors had claimed that the original price per unit was fixed at US$281, but that Her bought them at a higher price of US$582.
“This blame game must stop. There was also no financial report tendered in court to show that the company suffered losses over the tablets’ purchase,” he said.
Ex-CEO victim of double jeopardy
The court also agreed with Her that both charges were wrong in law and that he had been prosecuted twice for the same transaction.
“Everyone is entitled to a fair trial. The accused’s right to a fair trial was violated when he was subjected to the same charges twice. Our Federal Constitution prohibits double jeopardy,” Awang said.
Deputy public prosecutor Fadhly Zamry appeared for the prosecution, while lawyer V Sithambaram represented Her.
