The Court of Appeal said the High Court erred by failing to distinguish the tainted RM360,000 from the rest of the funds in LWC Good Service Sdn Bhd’s Hong Leong Bank account.

PUTRAJAYA: The government cannot forfeit an entire bank account merely because part of the money in it is linked to criminal activity, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

A three-member bench allowed in part an appeal by LWC Good Service Sdn Bhd against a High Court order forfeiting RM1.36 million from two of its bank accounts under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Amla).

Justices K Muniandy, Azman Abdullah and Dean Wayne Daly heard the appeal.

Muniandy, who delivered the unanimous judgment, said the prosecution established a direct money trail showing the transfer of RM360,000 from a "mule account" linked to the Comoncaps investment scam into LWC Good Service’s Hong Leong Bank account.