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ATTORNEY GENERAL'S CHAMBERS
PRESS RELEASE
THURSDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER 2024
On 11 September 2024, the Honourable Judicial Commissioner Haji Abdullah Soefri bin POKSM DSP Haji Abidin allowed the appeal of the Public Prosecutor against an acquittal and handed down a judgment reversing the acquittal of one Chin Chee Vun, a Bruneian Permanent Resident aged 55 years old. The said Chin Chee Vun was found guilty and was duly convicted for an offence under Section 6(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Chapter 131 read with Section 13 of the same.
The High Court held that the findings of the Honourable Senior Magistrate was plainly against the weight of the evidence. The High Court held that based on the evidence adduced by the Prosecution at trial, Chin Chee Vun had instigated his subordinate to corruptly give monies to an agent, a female Customs Inspection Officer with the Royal Customs and Excise Department, Ministry of Finance and Economy, as an inducement or reward for not to take any action against the said subordinate for any violations pertaining to customs declaration. At the time of the commission of the offence in October 2021, Chin Chee Vun was the General Manager of the Sivli Logistics Sdn Bhd, a freight forwarding company.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Hajah Rozaimah binti Haji Abd Rahman submitted that the Honourable Senior Magistrate had erred in law and/or fact by misdirecting herself on the ingredients of the charge, that the findings of the Honourable Senior Magistrate were plainly against the weight of the evidence adduced during the trial and that the Honourable Senior Magistrate had failed to consider that the Respondent's defence of bare denial was incredible given the weight of the evidence. Amongst others, the Prosecution highlighted the evidence given by the said subordinate who was called to testify as a Prosecution witness against Chin Chee Vun. The said subordinate had earlier pleaded guilty to a count under Section 6(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act on 13 July 2022, to which he was sentenced to 8 months' imprisonment, from a starting point of 12 months. He was convicted for having corruptly given gratification of BND$20.00 to an agent, a female Customs Inspection Officer with the Royal Customs and Excise Department, Ministry of Finance and Economy at the Payment Counter of the Customs Guardhouse and Muara Port Post Office, in Muara, Brunei Darussalam.
Sentencing has been reserved to a later date. If found guilty, the said Chin Chee Vun will be liable to a fine of $30,000 and to imprisonment for a term of 7 years.
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