Senior corporate lawyer acquitted of 3 insider trading charges

 

Senior corporate lawyer E Sreesanthan walked out a free man today following his acquittal of four insider dealing charges linked to three public-listed firms.

This followed on the heels of the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Jan 11 acquitting him of three separate counts of insider trading of Sime Darby Bhd shares in 2006.

On Jan 11, Sessions Court judge Zamri Bakar acquitted Sreesanthan without calling his defence at the end of the prosecution’s case, agreeing with the defence’s contention that the purported inside information was actually in the public domain, courtesy of several reputable journals and commentaries.

The accused’s lawyer Joshua Andran today confirmed that three separate Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court this morning acquitted and discharged his 62-year-old client (Sreesanthan) of the three insider trading charges.

Withdrew all charges

“The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) and Securities Commission (SC) withdrew all charges against him.

“The AGC and SC also withdrew their appeal in the High Court against Sreesanthan’s acquittal in the Sessions Court in January 2021 on three charges of insider dealing.

"This brings to an end the prosecution of Sreesanthan by the AGC and SC, which began in 2012,” Andran said when contacted today.

On July 20, 2012, Sreesanthan, a former independent non-executive director of Sime Darby, pleaded not guilty to seven insider trading counts, linked to 625,000 shares in Sime Darby, Maxis Communications Bhd, UEM World Bhd and VADS Bhd.

He was accused of using the information on the acquisition, privatisation and corporate restructuring exercises of the said firms, to acquire the companies’ shares, between 2006 and 2008.

All the offences were purportedly committed at Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd at Bukit Kewangan, Kuala Lumpur, between Oct 9, 2006, and Sept 18, 2008.

Sreesanthan then had faced a minimum RM1 million fine and maximum 10 years in jail for each offence, per the Securities Industry Act 1983 and Capital Markets and Services Act 2007, if found guilty. - Mkini