Abu Sahid outside court on Sept 24. He pleaded not guilty to a single charge of CBT involving RM145.5mil. – BERNAMApic
SHAH ALAM: Business tycoon Tan Sri Abu Sahid Mohamed and former construction company director Datuk Yap Wee Leong have pleaded not guilty to a total of 19 charges involving RM754.6mil at the Sessions Court here on Wednesday (Sept 24).
The charges include criminal breach of trust (CBT), false claims and money laundering, all allegedly linked to the proposed MEX II highway construction project.
Both men entered their pleas before judge Datuk Mohd Nasir Nordin after the charges were read out separately in court.
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Abu Sahid, 74, faces a single charge of CBT for allegedly misappropriating RM145.5mil entrusted to him in his capacity as director of Maju Holdings.
The funds were reportedly transferred to a construction company between Jan 12 and June 13, 2018.
The charge under Section 409 of the Penal Code carries a maximum jail term of 20 years, caning and a fine upon conviction.
Meanwhile, Yap, 68, claimed trial to 18 charges, nine involving false claims and nine for money laundering.
For the false claims, he is accused of submitting nine fraudulent progress claims amounting to RM220.7mil at a bank branch in Petaling between Nov 9, 2017, and June 26, 2018. The claims, valued between RM16mil and RM28mil each, allegedly involved pre-construction works that were never carried out.
For these offences, he was charged under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of not less than five times the value of the false claims or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if convicted.
Yap is also accused of laundering RM388.3mil across nine transactions by transferring sums ranging from RM18mil to RM75mil, using both company and personal bank accounts, between June 21, 2017, and Aug 3, 2018, at a bank branch in Country Heights, Kajang.
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These charges fall under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, which is punishable by a maximum 15-year prison sentence and fines of not less than five times the amount laundered or RM5mil, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
MACC deputy public prosecutor Datuk Ahmad Akram Gharib requested that the current charges be transferred to the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court to be jointly tried with a related case scheduled for mention on Nov 3.
The prosecution also pressed for bail to be maintained as per the Kuala Lumpur court’s earlier decision, which is RM1.5mil for Abu Sahid and RM1mil for Yap, with their passports to be surrendered to the court.
Defence counsel Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik (for Abu Sahid) and Abdul Hakeem Aiman (for Yap) did not object. The court approved all of the prosecution’s requests.
On Sept 8, the media reported that Abu Sahid claimed trial in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on four charges of CBT involving over RM300mil and 13 charges of money laundering involving more than RM100mil, while Yap pleaded not guilty to 17 charges involving false documents worth RM314.4mil. – Bernama
