KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Court yesterday ruled against fugitive Wong Shee Kai's (Ricky Wong) bid to remotely participate in the Securities Commission Malaysia's (SC) civil action against him and two others.
Ricky Wong was the founder of Asia Media Group Bhd, which is currently known as MMM Group Bhd.
The Federal Court unanimously dismissed an application by Ricky Wong for leave to appeal against the Court of Appeal's decision with respect to his application to attend and participate in court proceedings via remote control technology (RCT).
The Court of Appeal previously dismissed his appeal against the High Court's decision which disallowed his attendance and participation in the proceedings of the SC civil action against him via RCT.
The SC on May 5, 2020,started a civil action against Ricky Wong, Teh Sew Wan, and Wong SK Holdings Sdn Bhd for breaching sections 179(a) and/or 179(b) of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (CMSA) in respect of their involvement in several schemes to defraud Bright Packaging Industry Bhd in connection with the sale of securities via its rights issue, private placement and employee share option scheme exercises.
On July 4, 2022, whilst trial proceedings were ongoing, Ricky Wong filed an application in the High Court pursuant to Order 33A of the Rules of Court 2012 (Order 33A) seeking mainly, the following orders:
1. That the trial and hearing of any interlocutory proceedings of the civil action are to be conducted via RCT;
2. That Ricky Wong be allowed to attend the proceedings of the civil action via RCT;
3. That Ricky Wong be allowed to give evidence in the civil action via RCT, should he decide to testify.
On Nov 23, 2022, the High Court dismissed Ricky Wong's RCT application as he did not satisfy the threshold of Order 33A in that he did not disclose his precise location.
Further, the High Court also held that the administration of justice would be brought into disrepute if Ricky were allowed to attend and participate in the proceedings via RCT as he is currently a fugitive.
In dismissing Ricky Wong's application for leave to appeal, the Federal Court also ordered him to pay costs of RM20,000 to the SC.