KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 ― A pilot who was sentenced to two years’ jail and fined RM300,000 for running a money lending business without a valid licence was today acquitted and discharged of the charge.
High Court judicial commissioner Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid ordered the release of Captain Bir Singh, 61, after allowing his appeal against the conviction and sentence imposed by the Sessions Court in Aug 28 last year.
Azhar made the decision after hearing the submission by both parties. Bir Singh was represented by lawyers Afifuddin Ahmad Hafifi, Datuk Salehuddin Saidin and Siti Sarah Khalil, while the prosecution, by deputy public prosecutor Annur Atiqah Abd Hadi.
Afifuddin submitted, among others, that the prosecution failed to show the elements of interest that was charged and amount of loan given was doubtful.
Annur Atiqah Abd Hadi, in her submission, said that the prosecution had succeeded in establishing a prima facie case against the pilot based on the testimony by a prosecution witnesses who stated that the loan was given by the accused to Peter Paul, the complainant in the case.
Bir Singh was charged with lending RM600,000 to Peter Paul, 63, in an unlicensed business transaction between October 31, 2011 and April 24, 2012 at RHB Bank Berhad, Taman Tun Dr Ismail here.
The charge under Section 5 (2) of the Moneylenders Act 1951 carries a maximum fine of RM1 million or imprisonment of up to five years, or both, and in addition, caning, for subsequent offences. ― Bernama
