The Court of Appeal in Putrajaya today upheld the conviction and death sentence of former tow truck driver Koong Swee Kwan for the murder of Arab-Malaysian Bank (AmBank) founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi.

A three-man bench chaired by Justice Mohtaruddin Baki also maintained his conviction and 18 years’ jail term for attempting to murder Hussain's wife, Cheong Mei Kuen.

“Our decision is unanimous. We find no merits in the appeal. In totality of the evidence, we find that his conviction is safe,” he said in dismissing Koong’s appeal.

Justice Mohtaruddin was presiding on the panel with Court of Appeal judge Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and High Court judge Kamardin Hashim.

Koong, 46, was found guilty by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Sept 5, last year for killing Hussain, 75, at the car park of the Kuan Yin Chinese Temple at No 4, Lorong Ceylon in Kuala Lumpur between 1.30pm and 2pm on July 29, 2013.

He was also convicted by the High Court on a charge of attempting to murder Cheong, 51, at the same place and time.

At today’s proceeding, Koong’s counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik submitted that the case should be remitted to the High Court for a retrial.

He said the High Court judge Mohd Azman Husin might have been influenced by the presence of prejudicial evidence as he heard the trial against his client and the appeal of taxi driver Chew Siang Chee who was facing charges for possession of a pistol and live bullets.

Chew had also testified in the murder trial that he ferried Koong to the scene of the crime.

Hisyam argued that Koong had been denied a fair trial because Chew had told the court in his appeal over his charges of possession of firearm and bullets that Koong was a murderer, adding that it was difficult for the judge to erase from his mind the likelihood of prejudice.

Deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin said there was no biasness against Koong because the High Court judge had made his decision based on records of the proceedings before him.

“If there was an element of bias it would be against Chew and not Koong,” he said, adding that the judge had also considered his (Koong’s) statement from the dock and found it to be a bare denial.

He said a few eyewitnesses saw the shooting incident and without Chew’s evidence, the case against Koong would still be overwhelming.

- Bernama