Court of Appeal upholds Perak businessman’s acquittal on 122 cheating, forgery charges in RM6m case

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 28 — The Court of Appeal today upheld the acquittal of a businessman on 122 counts of cheating and using forged documents involving medical equipment supply investments worth more than RM6 million in 2015.

A three-member panel comprising Justices Datuk Azman Abdullah, Datuk Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz, and K. Muniandy dismissed the prosecution’s final appeal against the acquittal of N. Narendran, 46, by the Ipoh High Court in January 2022.

Delivering the unanimous decision, Justice Muniandy said the bench was satisfied that the High Court judicial commissioner had correctly evaluated the burden of proof and applicable legal principles.

He said the absence of mens rea at the onset of the transactions, material contradictions in the charges, and the lack of forensic evidence proving forgery rendered the original Sessions Court conviction unsafe.

“We also found that the High Court judicial commissioner did not commit any error of fact or law warranting appellate intervention. On the contrary, the High Court correctly identified fatal fundamental flaws in the prosecution’s case, rendering the Sessions Court’s conviction unsafe to uphold,” he said.

“The appellant’s appeal is therefore unanimously dismissed. The High Court’s discharge and acquittal order for the respondent (Narendran) on all 122 charges is valid and affirmed,” he added.

Justice Muniandy noted that because the forgery charges were inextricably linked to the primary cheating allegations that the prosecution failed to prove, the charges under Section 471 of the Penal Code collapsed on their own.

On April 9, 2021, the Ipoh Sessions Court sentenced Narendran to 10 years’ imprisonment and 24 strokes of the cane after finding him guilty of all charges. The High Court subsequently overturned the conviction and acquitted him in January 2022 following his appeal.

According to the charge sheet, Narendran faced 105 counts of cheating a man by deceiving him into believing that state government purchase orders for investments in supplying disposable medical equipment to a hospital in Ipoh, Perak, were genuine.

He was accused of inducing the victim to hand over cheques and cash amounting to between RM20,000 and RM350,000 for non-existent investments at four locations between May and December 2015.

The charges were framed under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which provides for a prison sentence of up to 10 years, whipping, and a fine upon conviction.

Narendran also faced 17 counts of using forged documents involving the same victim and transaction under Section 471 of the Penal Code, punishable under Section 467 of the same code, which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years and a fine.

He allegedly used several forged Perak state government purchase orders as genuine at Ganang Resources, No C-2-09, Persiaran Greentown 3, Greentown Business Centre, between April and October 2015.

Deputy Public Prosecutor How May Ling appeared for the prosecution, while counsel S. Meharaj, Nur Syazwani Hassan, and R. Vikraman represented Narendran. — Bernama

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布城，10月28日讯——上诉法院今日维持原判，一名商人被控在2015年涉嫌欺诈和使用伪造文件，骗取价值超过600万令吉的医疗设备供应投资，共计122项罪名。

由法官 Datuk Azman Abdullah、Datuk Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz 和 K. Muniandy 组成的三人小组驳回了检方针对 2022 年 1 月怡保高等法院无罪释放 46 岁的 N. Narendran 的最终上诉。

穆尼亚迪法官在宣读一致裁决时表示，合议庭认为高等法院司法专员已正确评估了举证责任和适用的法律原则。

他表示，由于交易开始时缺乏犯罪意图，指控中存在实质性矛盾，以及缺乏证明伪造的法医证据，使得原审法院的定罪不安全。

“我们还发现，高等法院司法专员在事实认定或法律适用方面均未犯任何错误，无需上诉干预。相反，高等法院正确地指出了检方案件中存在的致命根本缺陷，使得地方法院的定罪不宜维持，”他说道。

“因此，上诉人的上诉被一致驳回。高等法院对被上诉人（纳伦德兰）所有122项指控的无罪释放令有效并予以维持，”他补充道。

穆尼亚迪法官指出，由于伪造罪指控与检方未能证实的欺诈罪指控密不可分，因此根据《刑法典》第 471 条提出的指控本身就站不住脚了。

2021年4月9日，怡保地方法庭认定纳伦德兰所有罪名成立，判处其10年监禁和24下鞭刑。2022年1月，高等法院在纳伦德兰提出上诉后推翻了原判，宣告其无罪。

根据起诉书，纳伦德兰面临 105 项欺诈指控，他欺骗一名男子，使其相信州政府向霹雳州怡保一家医院供应一次性医疗设备的采购订单是真实的。

他被指控在 2015 年 5 月至 12 月期间，在四个地点诱使受害者交出 2 万至 35 万令吉的支票和现金，用于不存在的投资。

这些指控是根据《刑法》第 420 条提出的，该条规定，一经定罪，可判处最高 10 年监禁、鞭刑和罚款。

纳伦德兰还面临 17 项指控，罪名是使用伪造文件，涉及同一受害者和同一笔交易，违反了《刑法典》第 471 条，根据该法典第 467 条可予以处罚，最高可判处 20 年监禁和罚款。

据称，他在 2015 年 4 月至 10 月期间，在位于绿城商业中心绿城路 3 号 C-2-09 的 Ganang Resources 公司，多次使用伪造的霹雳州政府采购订单。

副检察官何美玲代表控方出庭，而律师S·梅哈拉杰、努尔·沙兹瓦尼·哈桑和R·维克拉曼则代表纳伦德兰出庭。——马新社

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