Two individuals had told businessperson Ng Shih Chiow that they could “make MACC stop its investigation” against him if he agreed to their terms regarding shareholdings at his company, the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court heard today.
The claim was recounted in a police report lodged by Shih Chiow, who is the Revenue Group Berhad (RGB) co-founder, on March 22, 2023, to urge authorities to investigate the duo’s claims and protect him from the “corporate mafia”.
“On Feb 4, 2023, around 1 to 2pm, I was called to attend a meeting at The Social, Publika, with one Chong Loong Men and one Francis Leong Seng Wui because they wanted to discuss the corporate dispute at RGB involving my brother and me.
“During the meeting, Chong and Leong told me that they would stop the MACC investigation against my brother and me if I agreed to their settlement terms.
“Chong and Leong also stated that as a gesture of goodwill, they would instruct the MACC to return my brother’s and my cell phones next Monday.
“I felt scared and worried because Chong and Leong indirectly said that the MACC was under their control and would follow their instructions or collude with them in this corporate dispute,” he said in the report, which was read out in court today, where Shih Chiow and his brother Ng Shin Fang, or also known as Brian and Dino, are being tried.
The Ng brothers were charged on March 14, 2023, under Section 403 of the Penal Code for criminal misappropriation of RGB’s property involving a Toyota Vellfire.
They were accused of having a common intention to cause a CIMB Bank Berhad officer to register the car under Shin Fang’s name, which was done without a resolution from the company’s board of directors.
The police report was referred to the prosecution’s eighth witness Eddie Ng Chee Siong, who is also RGB’s co-founder alongside the Ng brothers, during cross-examination by defence counsel Amer Hamzah Arshad.
No knowledge of the meeting
Chee Siong, when referred to the police report, told Amer that he had no knowledge of the meeting mentioned in the report.
The witness, however, agreed with Amer’s contention that he had brought Leong into RGB as the executive director on Jan 17 in the same year, and that Chong, who is a lawyer, has no mandate from the company to hold meetings with the Ng brothers.
During proceedings on April 7 before judge Rosli Ahmad, Chee Siong told the court that Chong had introduced him to Leong, despite claiming that he personally does not know the lawyer.
At yesterday’s proceedings, the same witness denied Amer’s contention that Leong was brought into the company’s board as a way to kick out the Ng brothers from the boardroom via an alleged “hostile takeover” of the company.
Chee Siong also agreed with Amer’s contention yesterday that he did not perform background checks on Leong before recommending him to join RGB’s boardroom, but disagreed that the absence of such checks would equate to gross negligence on his part.
The case trial continues on June 9.
‘Corporate mafia’
Leong and Chong’s names were mentioned in Bloomberg’s Feb 12 report that alleged senior MACC officers had colluded with private individuals to stage corporate takeover of rivals, with the clandestine group dubbed the “corporate mafia”.
The report, which quoted MACC insiders, detailed a tactic in which a select group of businesspersons would target a company, then file MACC complaints against it.
MACC would then investigate the company’s founders, exerting pressure that enabled the complainants to gain control of the firm.
The MACC had dismissed the Bloomberg report as part of a smear campaign intended to undermine its reputation. - Mkini
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