KUALA LUMPUR: Kinabatangan Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and his wife Datin Seri Zizie Izette Abdul Samad will file for a review of the Court of Appeal’s decision ordering them to enter their defence on corruption charges amounting to RM2.8mil.
Lawyer, M. Athimulan, told Sessions Court judge Rosli Ahmad that the review application would be filed soon.
"We have been ordered by our clients to file the review application at the Court of Appeal," said Athimulan, who is handling the case with lawyer Dev Kumaraendran, representing Zizie Izette.
He said that after the review application has been filled, they will apply to the Session Court to postpone the defence hearing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Fadhly Mohd Zamry then requested the defence to submit in writing the request for the postponement of the trial, but to maintain the dates that had been set for the hearing.
Judge Rosli maintained the dates set for the trial - April 9 to 11, April 14 and 15 and May 5 and 6, 2025 - and fixed March 11 for mention.
On Nov 18 last year, the Court of Appeal ordered Bung Moktar and Zizie Izette to enter their defence on the three corruption charges after allowing the prosecution's appeal against the couple’s acquittal by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Sept 7, 2023.
On Sept 2, 2022, judge Rozina Ayob, who previously presided over the case, had ordered Bung Moktar and Zizie Izette to enter their defence on all three corruption charges after finding that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against them at the end of the prosecution case.
Bung Moktar, 65, who was then the non-executive chairman of Felcra Berhad, was charged on May 3, 2019, with two charges of accepting bribes of RM2.2mil and RM262,500 as an inducement to obtain Felcra approval to invest RM150mil in Public Mutual unit trusts.
He was alleged to have accepted the bribes from Public Mutual Berhad’s investment agent Madhi Abdul Hamid through Zizie Izette, 46, at Public Bank Taman Melawati Branch here between 12.30pm and 5pm on June 12, 2015.
Bung Moktar was also charged with receiving RM337,500 in cash from Unit Amanah consultant, Norhaili Ahmad Mokhtar, under the name of Zizie Izette for the same reason and place on June 19, 2015, while Zizie Izette was charged with three counts of abetting her husband over the matter at the same place, date and time. - Bernama
