The Securities Commission Malaysia has issued a statement refuting all claims made by Serba Dinamik on the allegation that the regulatory body had acted in bad faith and did not follow procedures in discharging its duties.
This comes from the 26-page report the company filed on Bursa website alleging the SC of various matters including insisting on using a particular audit firm. The statutory body in response to the statement has also made a police report and said that it is mandated by Parliament to regulate the Malaysian capital market, adding that it is charged with the responsibility of maintaining trust and confidence in the capital market.
Adding that its enforcement action against Serba Dinamik was undertaken in the public’s interest, to promote the integrity and reliability of financial statements of public listed companies, it denounces any attempts to intimidate the body or its officers and undermine its authority and credibility.
In relation to this, the SC lodged a police report against Serba Dinamik for issuing an announcement dated 21 April 2022, which contained statements that are baseless and malicious, and which may have the effect of misleading or confusing members of the public and/or paint a negative image of the SC and its officers.
Serba Dinamik and four of its board members and senior management (the Accused) were earlier charged with offences under securities laws in December 2021 for providing a false statement to Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad in relation to its revenue figure of RM6.01 billion contained in its consolidated results for the quarter and year ended 31 December 2020.
Following Serba Dinamik’s representation to the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Attorney-General had on 7 April 2022 agreed for all the charges to be compounded.
The SC notes that the bulk of the allegations made against the SC were issues and arguments put forward by Serba Dinamik in various High Court proceedings, which have since been dismissed by the High Court.
The statutory body claims the investigations regarding the matter were conducted in accordance with its statutory powers and established processes and procedures, and categorically rejects the claims as being without any merit, including the following:
- The SC denies that it failed to handover documents relating to this case, and states that documents, which will be tendered by the prosecution during the trial, were provided to Serba Dinamik pursuant to Section 51A of the Criminal Procedure Code.
- In fact, the SC had provided substantial documents which are relevant in separate batches to the Defence on three separate dates ie 27 January 2022, 25 February 2022 and 8 April 2022, the receipt of which was acknowledged in writing by the lawyers representing the Accused.
- The SC clarifies that the exercise of its investigation powers, including the raid conducted at Serba Dinamik’s office on 18 May 2021, was proper and executed in good faith in the discharge of its regulatory powers. Pursuant to Sections 128 and 133 of the Securities Commission Malaysia Act 1993 (SCMA), the SC is empowered to enter any premises without a search warrant if it has reasonable grounds to believe that the delay in obtaining a search warrant may cause any documents or evidence to be interfered with or destroyed or the object of the entry may be frustrated.
- The SC also states that its Investigating Officers, Prosecuting Officers and Deputy Public Prosecutors had not at any time threatened any staff of Serba Dinamik, and that statements recorded from these witnesses were conducted according to due process and the statements were made to the SC voluntarily without any inducement, threat or promise.
The SC filed the report to enable the police and other relevant authorities to investigate the matter, including for the offence of defamation under Section 499 of the Penal Code and/or other relevant laws. It also sought the police’s cooperation to conduct its investigations with urgency to help safeguard investors’ interest.
