Govt can’t forfeit clean funds just because account held tainted money, court rules

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the government cannot forfeit an entire bank account solely because part of its funds are linked to criminal activity. In the case of LWC Good Service Sdn Bhd, a three-member bench allowed part of an appeal against a High Court order to forfeit RM1.36 million from two of the company's bank accounts under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Amla).

While the prosecution established a direct money trail linking RM360,000 to the Comoncaps investment scam, there was no evidence connecting the remaining funds to the scam. The court ordered the forfeiture of RM360,000 but directed the return of RM863,179.84 in the Hong Leong Bank account and RM139,329.24 in LWC's CIMB account. The Court of Appeal emphasized that suspicion alone cannot lead to the seizure of funds and that the Anti-Money Laundering Act cannot be used as a catch-all confiscation device.

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