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Court throws out forfeiture suit against businessperson
The Kuala Lumpur High Court has binned the Securities Commission’s (SC) forfeiture action against businessperson Ricky Wong Shee Kai involving nearly six million company shares.
Judge Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh four days ago dismissed the prosecution’s bid seeking to forfeit 5,792,000 shares in Bright Packaging Industry Berhad (BPI).
Since 2020, SC has sought Interpol’s assistance to locate Wong (above) to assist in the investigation into an alleged offence under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Amla).
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that the Interpol notice against Wong had been set aside in 2021.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court has binned the Securities Commission’s (SC) forfeiture action against businessperson Ricky Wong Shee Kai involving nearly six million company shares.
Judge Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh four days ago dismissed the prosecution’s bid seeking to forfeit 5,792,000 shares in Bright Packaging Industry Berhad (BPI).
In 2020, SC sought Interpol’s assistance to locate Wong (above) to assist in the investigation into an alleged offence under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Amla).
However, in 2021, Interpol’s commission in Lyon, France, set aside the notice on reason of non-compliance with its Rules on the Processing of Data.
In a media statement by Wong’s lawyer Baljit Singh Sidhu today, the legal team announced that the court denied the forfeiture action against the businessperson and the company Wong SK Holdings Sdn Bhd (WSKH).
The forfeiture bid was framed under Section 45 of Amla to seize the BPI shares, whereby prosecutors claimed that Wong and WSKH procured the shares as proceeds from unlawful activities linked to BPI.
“The High Court’s ruling to dismiss the application reaffirms the innocence of Wong and WSKH.
“Wong and WSKH are engaged in other ongoing legal proceedings on related matters and remain optimistic that these cases will also result in favourable outcomes, firmly believing that justice will prevail and that they will be completely exonerated in all pending proceedings,” according to the businessperson’s legal team that also comprised of lawyers Abd Shukor Ahmad, Gurpreet Kaur Pannu, Ivanpal Singh Grewal and Pang Li Wei.
Series of events
SC previously sought Interpol’s help following Wong, 43, allegedly failing to appear before the commission’s investigating officer on Dec 27, 2019.
SC also appealed to the public for information on Wong’s whereabouts and promised that those with information would be protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010.
Wong is best known for his role as the boss of Asia Media Bhd, a former ACE Market listed company providing digital transit-TV broadcasting services, which included digital advertising services on public transport.
In 2011, Asia Media Bhd was named as part of then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s economic transformation programme (ETP), and they would invest RM500 million over a decade.
In 2013, three men were charged with attempting to murder Wong.
According to the company’s filing to Bursa Malaysia in July 2019, the company’s shareholders voted to oust Wong and four others as directors.
The company had also notified Bursa Malaysia that it was in PN17 status (financial distress) after losing broadcast contracts for public transport systems in the Klang Valley and Johor.
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