PUTRAJAYA (June 10): Former Silver Bird Group Bhd managing director Datuk Jackson Tan Han Kook and its former chief executive officer Derec Ching Siew Cheong were today acquitted of all 134 charges of cheating and purportedly using forged documents to cheat Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) of close to RM67.4 million.

A three-member Court of Appeal bench led by Justice Datuk Kamardin Hashim today dismissed the prosecution’s appeal and upheld the decision by the Sessions Court and High Court to acquit them.

“After observing the appeal record, both oral and written, we find no merit in [the prosecution’s] appeal.

“There is no appealable error. The appeal is dismissed. The decision of the lower courts are upheld and both accused remain acquitted,” the judge said.

This is the final appeal by the prosecution as the case originated from the Sessions Court and parties are only allowed a two-tier appeal process.

Sitting with Justice Kamardin were Justice Datuk Zabidin Md Diah and Justice Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.

When met, Tan, 66, said the charges had caused him and his family a lot of stress, but he is thankful for the support he had received from his family and friends.

“The truth has set me free,” he added.

He was represented by counsel Datuk K Kumaraendran and Teh See Khoon.

Counsels Datuk N Sivananthan and Jasmine Cheong appeared for Ching while deputy public prosecutors Faiza Mohd Salleh and Tetralina Ahmad Fauzi appeared for the prosecution.

Tan and Ching were jointly charged in 2012 and claimed trial to charges of cheating Maybank by using false documents in applying for banker’s acceptance facilities for three companies — Asian Food Link Sdn Bhd, Violet Bonanza Sdn Bhd and Stanson Marketing Sdn Bhd.

They were charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and alternatively under Section 471 of the same Code for purportedly using forged documents.

The documents referred to in the charges were invoices totalling RM67.44 million that were purportedly delivery orders made out to Stanson Marketing and Koperasi Permodalan Felda Quality.

They stood trial before Sessions Court Judge Mohd Nasir Nordin, during which the defence were called, but they were later acquitted as the defence had raised reasonable doubt in 2016.

The High Court dismissed the prosecution’s appeal and the decision was upheld today.

Silver Bird was established as a key player in the bakery and confectionery business in the country, via its products under the “High 5” and “Silverbird” brands.

It had also acquired Pastryville, a retail chain of premium pastry selections, with presence in various locations in the Klang Valley.

The group’s substantial shareholders included Berjaya Corp Bhd (16.7%), Lembaga Tabung Haji (5.84%) and Koperasi Permodalan Felda Malaysia Bhd (12.7%).

In 2012, Silver Bird — whose name had then been changed to High-5 Consolidated Bhd — announced that it had a RM112 million hole in its finances, which later turned out to be RM297 million.

The firm fell into Practice Note 17 status, and its securities were eventually delisted from Bursa Malaysia in 2014 after failing to regularise its finances.

Baltimore Ravens safety Earl Thomas took to IG to announce that he’ll join TMZ to discuss an altercation that occurred between himself and his wife, Nina. 

Shortly after Thomas posted the message, TMZ published a report that detailed the situation. According to police reports, Earl left their home after getting into an argument with Nina and was picked up but his brother, Seth. Later in the day, Nina checked into Earl’s Snapchat and saw that he was with another woman. She was also able to find out his location, an Airbnb rental in Austin, Texas. Once she pinpointed where Earl was at, she took his 9mm Berreta and called up two women to accompany her to confront her husband. Nina said she brought the gun to “scare him.”

When they arrived at the Airbnb, they “discovered Earl and Seth naked in bed with other women.”  

Nina admits that she then pointed the gun at her husband’s head, thinking “she took out the magazine thinking that the gun could not fire.” Police later found out that there was a bullet in the chamber. Footage that was shot by one of the women that accompanied Nina was reviewed by cops, who said that the gun was “less than a foot away” from Earl’s head. They added, “it can clearly be seen that Nina’s finger was on the trigger and the safety is disengaged.”

Police say that Earl was able to get the gun away from Nina, who was later arrested. She was charged with burglary of a residence with intent to commit aggravated assault with a deadly weapon but was freed on bond, TMZ reports. The two other women were also arrested. The Ravens player told cops that his wife struck him multiple times as he attempted to get the gun away from her. A woman that was at the house with Earl and his brother Seth alleged that Nina threatened her and the others with the gun and told them that she had “something for all you hoes.”

Thomas didn’t provide his side of the story but will presumably get into it all during his interview with the publication. “Obviously this is not how I wanted my birthday breakfast to start out or my birthday but it is what it is,” Thomas, who’s turning 32 on Thursday, May 7, wrote of the April 13 incident.

“I just wanted to get ahead of it,” Thomas said in a video that accompanied the post. “I mean, it’s really not anybody’s business. It pisses me off that it got out, but it’s the world we live in today. But instead of talking about us, just keep us in y’all prayers. Stuff like this happens, bro. We try to live the best life we possibly can but sometimes it don’t go as planned. Just pray for us as we go through this stuff. We’ve been talking. I’m seeing my kids, so just keep us in your prayers.”

This post will be updated.