SINGAPORE : The
Court of Appeal threw out the Sunshine Empire case on Friday, after
their lawyers failed to prove that the case raised any questions of law
and public interest.
Sunshine Empire founder James Phang Wah and
former director Jackie Hoo Choon Cheat were jailed for offences that
include running a fraudulent trading company, falsifying accounts and
criminal breach of trust.
Phang was sentenced to nine years in jail while Hoo has to serve seven years in prison.
The
pair ran the now-defunct Sunshine Empire, a multi-level marketing
company that came to be touted as the biggest Ponzi-like scheme in
Singapore.
They sold 'lifestyle packages' that promised high
returns, but the 'investment returns' were generated from new members
signing up rather than from genuine profits.
Their appeals were
dismissed by the High Court in November last year, but they successfully
applied for permission to take their case to the Court of Appeal.
In
court, their lawyers fleshed out their case in front of a three-judge
court made up of Justices Andrew Phang, V K Rajah, and Lee Seiu Kin.
Hoo's lawyer Philip Fong said that to call Sunshine Empire a Ponzi scheme was unfair and needed clarification.
Subhas
Anandan, who was acting for Phang, said that there were many unresolved
issues of law affecting the case, which needed to be resolved in light
of Singapore's desire to be a global commercial hub.
But their arguments failed to convince the judges.
Justice
Phang noted that just because a company can produce a perfectly legal
contract, it does not mean that fraudulent practices cannot occur.
He then described the case as a "backdoor appeal", where the lawyers were disputing facts rather than points of law.
In
conclusion, the three judges said no questions of law and public
interest have arisen in this case, and added that Phang and Hoo were
correctly convicted in law.