By Free Malayisa Today
A manager with oil and gas firm Aker Engineering Malaysia Sdn Bhd pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court today to misleading the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM).
Ahmad Hatta Kamaruzzaman was charged under section 68 of the Companies Act with furnishing a false statement — Annual Return of Company Having Share Capital Aker Engineering Malaysia Sdn Bhd — to SSM in June 2017.
If found guilty, Hatta faces a jail term of up to 10 years or a fine of not less than RM3 million, or both.
Judge Suzana Hussin granted him bail of RM10,000 in one surety and set March 21 for next mention.
Hatta was represented by lawyers S. Devanandan and Amer Hamzah Arshad while Deputy Public Prosecutor Law Chin How appeared for the prosecution.
Last year, Hatta was charged with cheating Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, with the prosecution claiming that he had made false representations over the ownership of Aker’s subsidiary companies to win licences from Petronas.
However, the court gave him a discharge not amounting to an acquittal on the cheating charge under section 417 of the Penal Code, after Hatta’s lawyers raised an objection against the charge.
The defence said the cheating charge was “defective” as it did not disclose the alleged offence.
