QUESTIONS 1Two former executive directors of Polo Incorporation Bhd received jail sentences forfurnishing false statements to Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (Bursa). The Sessions Courtsentenced Chong Loon Sing, 56, and Sivaraja Maniam, 48 after a guilty plea from eachdefendant. They admitted to furnishing false information to the Bursa in relation to Polo’srevenue of RM91.13 million, of which RM51.5 million was false, for the fourth quarterended 31 March 2018. The defendants also faced four other charges for the same offence inrelation to Polo’ consolidated income statement for all four quarters in the 2017 financialyear. It was discovered that the company did not have an internal whistle-blower policy andtheir outsourced internal auditors were from the same firm that provided external auditservices to the company, albeit from a different team. The external auditor firm also providedtax consultancy services to the company. The company’s Audit Committee and externalauditor have failed to scrutinise the company accounts and thus, they were unaware of thefraud. The crime was finally uncovered when one of the employees decided to report to theSC on the discrepancies of the accounts. Judge Nuriman Ahmad took these facts intoconsideration in sentencing the two defendants.Chong received a 7-month imprisonment and fined RM200,000. Meanwhile, the Judge metedout a 12-month imprisonment to Sivaraja. Both defendants were former substantialshareholders of the company. The sentences were meted out following the two men’sapplications for a plea bargain, said the SC.The trial against Chong and Sivaraja started in 2018. Hearing will continue against two otherindividuals, Mohd Reza and Tee Poon Huat, who were jointly tried with Chong and Sivarajafor the same offences.
