Ex-Johor exco man Latif Bandi, two others acquitted of corruption charges

Abdul Latif giving the thumbs up sign after he was freed from corruption charges on Sunday.

JOHOR BARU: Former Johor exco member Datuk Abdul Latif Bandi has been freed from all 37 charges for corruption and money laundering at the Sessions Court here Sunday (April 21).

Also freed from the charges were Abdul Latif's son Ahmad Fauzan Hatim and property consultant Amir Shariffuddin Abd Raub.

Sessions Judge Kamarudin Kamsun said that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against all three accused before giving out his decision.

He ordered all three to be discharged and granted full acquittal with the bail amount for the suspects to be returned immediately.

Kamarudin also said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has 14 days to appeal the decision.

They were charged with 33 charges under Section 28(1)(C) of the MACC Act 2009 while another four charges under Section 32(8)(c) and Section 89 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) 2001.

It was reported some two years ago that Abdul Latif, who was previously the state Local Government and Housing Committee chairman under the Barisan Nasional administration, and the other two accused were charged with receiving bribes amounting to RM30.3mil.

The prosecution had called a total of 63 witnesses with more than 1,071 exhibits throughout the 40-day trial.

The three men were represented by lawyers Datuk Hasnal Redzua Mericann, Datuk Sallehudin Saidin, Azrul Zulkifli Stork, Datuk Khairul Anwar Rahmat, Rahim Aidil, Nur Hafidzah Md Yusuff, Siti Sarah Khalil and Hafez Zalkapli.

MACC Putrajaya deputy prosecution officer Mohamad Fadhly Mohd Zamry and Tengku Amir Zaki Tengku Abdul Rahman prosecuted the case.