Relief for three Umno leaders
Published on: Saturday, September 24, 2022
From left: Bung, Zahid after the court ruling yesterday and Azeez.
Kuala Lumpur: Three Umno leaders facing corruption charges heaved a sigh of relief in separate courts Friday. Party President Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid was freed of all 40 corruption charges involving the foreign visa contract (VLN).Baling Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim was given a discharge not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) in all of his corruption cases.
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Abdul Azeez was facing three corruption charges involving RM5.2 million and 10 money laundering offences involving RM13.9 million.
The corruption charges faced by Azeez, 55, were in connection with road projects in Perak and Kedah while the money-laundering charges involve money which he allegedly received from a company called Menuju Asas Sdn Bhd.
Deputy Chief Minister and Kinabatangan Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and his wife Datin Seri Zizie Izette Abdul Samad, were granted a stay in proceedings in the first day of their defence against charges of accepting RM2.8 million through corrupt means.
In Zahid’s case, judge Datuk Yazid Mustafa freed Zahid of receiving bribes from Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) to extend its VLN contract.
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The judge ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against the 69-year old Bagan Datuk MP.
He said three key witnesses – former UKSB directors Harry Lee, Wan Quoris Shah Wan Abdul Ghani and David Tan – were unreliable and not credible.
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He said even though there were suggestions that Zahid had received money there was no sufficient evidence to prove it.
On the infamous ledger which purportedly contained names of ministers, politicians and civil servants who also received kickbacks from UKSB, the judge said there were contradictions involving evidence of the trio. Yazid said Tan claimed that he gave RM3 million to Zahid but this was not mentioned in his witness statement.
He said Tan had also agreed during cross-examination that evidence about the payment was an afterthought.
The judge said Tan had also failed to explain on the different code names which were attributed to Zahid in the ledger.
In the ledger, he used different code names such as Monster, Mon, YB, Young Boy, ZH and Z when referring to Zahid.
Immediately after he finished reading his two hour grounds of judgment, those present in court started clapping before Zahid walked out of the courtroom with tears in his eyes. The prosecution said it would study the grounds of judgment before deciding whether to appeal.
It has 14 days to file a notice of appeal to the Court of Appeal.
In Abdul Azeez case, Judge Azura Alwi made the ruling after Deputy Public Prosecutor Aslinda Ahad requested the court to discharge without acquitting him under Section 254 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code following a representation submitted by Abdul Azeez.
“The court opines that every case needs to be differentiated based on facts and the main issue is the discretionary power under Section 254 of the Criminal Procedure Code whether a DNAA or DNA order should be given against the accused.
“In exercising that power, the court needs to balance public interest and the rights of the accused as provided under the Federal Constitution.
“Therefore, the court orders that the accused be released without being acquitted of the charges,” he said when the case came up for mention.
In Bung Moktar’s case, High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah ordered a stay on the trial pending disposal of their application for a review of the Sessions Court order requiring them to answer the charges. Deputy Public Prosecutor Faridz Gohim Abdullah was also reported not to have objected to the couple’s application to pause their trial.
Bung Moktar was charged with three counts of accepting bribes totalling RM2.8 million as an inducement to obtain Felcra’s approval to invest RM150 million in Public Mutual unit trusts on May 3, 2019.
Bung Moktar was the non-executive chairman of Felcra when the offences were allegedly committed seven years ago. His wife Zizie was charged with abetting him.
On September 2, Sessions Court judge Rozina Ayob ordered Bung Moktar and his wife to enter their defence after ruling that the prosecution had passed the prima facie test in the case.
But the couple later fled a motion at the High Court for a review of the Session Court order, under Section 323 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
In the motion, they claimed two key prosecution witnesses — Madhi Abdul Hamid and Norhaili Ahmad Mokhtar — were treated as hostile witnesses, and that “this was contradictory to the findings made by the Sessions Court judge”. The Sessions Court scheduled September 26 as the new mention date for updates on Bung Moktar and Zizie’s review application.
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