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Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (635998-W) (Bursa Malaysia Securities) has publicly reprimanded and imposed a fine of RM30,000 on Syed Omar Bin Syed Mohamed (SOSM), the former Managing Director of Damansara Realty Berhad (DBHD) as well as the former Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Nexgram Holdings Berhad (NEXGRAM) for breach of paragraph 2.18(1)(a) and (c) of the Bursa Malaysia Securities Main Market Listing Requirements (Main LR) and Rule 2.18(1)(a) and (c) of ACE Market Listing Requirements (ACE LR) respectively.
Paragraph / Rule 2.18(1)(a) and (c) of the Main LR / ACE LR states that a listed issuer / corporation or a director of a listed issuer / corporation must ensure that any statement, information or document presented, submitted or disclosed pursuant to the requirements is clear, unambiguous, accurate and is not false or misleading.
SOSM had submitted and / or caused DBHD and NEXGRAM to submit inaccurate and false / misleading statements pertaining to his qualification as a holder of a Bachelor of Accounting and Finance degree (“False Statements”) in various announcements of DBHD and NEXGRAM as well as the annual reports of DBHD.
The public reprimand and fine was imposed on SOSM pursuant to paragraph and Rule 16.19(1) of the Main LR and ACE LR respectively after taking into consideration all facts and circumstances of the matter and upon completion of due process.
BACKGROUND
DBHD and NEXGRAM had disclosed that SOSM was a holder of a Bachelor of Accounting and Finance degree from the University of Sunderland, United Kingdom in –
- the announcements of his appointment as a director of DBHD and NEXGRAM dated 26 May 2014 and 13 May 2016 respectively; and
- the directors’ profile in DBHD’s annual reports for the financial year ended 31 December 2013 and 31 December 2014 announced on 3 June 2014 and 26 May 2015 respectively.
Further, the University of Sunderland had confirmed to DBHD that the certificate in the name of SOSM was not issued by the University and that SOSM was not in their student records.
SOSM had also pleaded guilty to the charge of using a false document from the University of Sunderland to secure the position of Chief Executive Officer at DBHB.
SOSM had since resigned as the Managing Director of DBHD on 21 August 2015 and as the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of NEXGRAM on 19 August 2015.
Notwithstanding the False Statements in the announcements and annual reports of DBHD and NEXGRAM, no finding of breach was made against DBHD and NEXGRAM as it was noted that these companies had placed reasonable reliance on the confirmation of SOSM as to the veracity of his qualification.
Bursa Malaysia Securities views the contravention seriously as all directors of listed companies must maintain the highest standards of integrity, accountability, corporate governance and responsibility to ensure compliance with the Main LR / ACE LR. Further, the facts and circumstances indicated deliberate / fraudulent act by SOSM in making / giving the False Statements to DBHD and NEXGRAM for issuance of various announcements and annual reports to the market.
