THE High Court has granted a one-day adjournment in the corruption and money laundering trial involving former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin over the Jana Wibawa project following the death of his brother-in-law.
Judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin, who is presiding over the case, allowed the proceedings scheduled for Thursday to be vacated after the defence informed the court of the bereavement.
Muhyiddin’s legal team was expected to continue cross-examining prosecution witness Aliza Abdul Malek, the director of Nepturis Sdn Bhd, when the trial resumes.
The proceedings, which have so far heard testimony from 13 prosecution witnesses, will continue on Monday, July 13.
Earlier, defence counsel Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad told the court that Muhyiddin’s brother-in-law, Sahiran Md Top, died on Thursday morning.
"The defence respectfully requests the court’s permission to allow our client to pay his last respects and perform the funeral prayers in Johor.
"Therefore, we seek for today’s proceedings to be vacated and resumed during next week’s trial session," he said.
Judge Noor Ruwena granted the request and extended her condolences to Muhyiddin and his family.
During Wednesday’s proceedings, Aliza told the court that she had been instructed to prepare five separate letters addressed to Muhyiddin, who was Prime Minister at the time, relating to applications for projects under the Jana Wibawa programme.
Aliza, who is also a Senior Procurement Executive at Nepturis Sdn Bhd, said the letters were prepared based on instructions from the company’s former owner, Lian Tian Chuan, also known as TC Lian.
She said the letters involved applications for the construction of the Klang Utara District Police Headquarters project in Selangor.
Apart from preparing letters for Nepturis, Aliza told the court that she also prepared applications on behalf of Permata Rebana Sdn Bhd, Fastcoll Corporation Sdn Bhd, JM Letrik Sdn Bhd and MZ Hakujaya Sdn Bhd.
However, she said she did not know who received the letters or who TC Lian dealt with when submitting the documents.
Muhyiddin, 79, who was Prime Minister and president of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) at the time, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM225.3 million linked to the Jana Wibawa project.
The alleged payments involved three companies — Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd and Mamfor Sdn Bhd — as well as Datuk Azman Yusoff, allegedly for the benefit of the political party.
He is accused of committing the offences at the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya between March 1, 2020 and August 20, 2021.
The charges were brought under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of five times the value of the gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
Muhyiddin also faces three charges of receiving proceeds from unlawful activities amounting to RM200 million from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, allegedly deposited into Bersatu’s Ambank and CIMB Bank accounts between February 2021 and July 2022.
The charges were filed under Section 4(1)(b), read together with Section 87(1), of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of five times the value of the proceeds from unlawful activities or RM5 million, whichever is higher. - July 10, 2026
