THE prosecution has appealed against the Sessions Court’s decision to acquit and discharge Datin Seri Zizie Izette Abdul Samad of three charges of abetting her late husband in a corruption case linked to FELCRA Berhad’s RM150 million investment in Public Mutual unit trusts 11 years ago.
The prosecution filed the notice of appeal at the High Court Registry in Kuala Lumpur on July 31, challenging Sessions Court Judge Rosli Ahmad’s decision on July 20 to acquit and discharge Zizie Izette at the end of her defence case.
The notice stated that the prosecution was dissatisfied with the decision involving the three amended charges under Section 28(1)(c) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009.
The prosecution is also seeking, under Section 307(5) of the Criminal Procedure Code, copies of the notes of evidence and the grounds of judgment.
Case management for the appeal is scheduled at the High Court tomorrow.
Rosli acquitted Zizie Izette, who is the wife of the late former Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin, after finding that the defence had succeeded in raising reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case at the conclusion of the defence proceedings.
In his grounds of judgment, Rosli said legal authorities established that one of the elements of an abetment offence that the prosecution must prove was the commission of the principal offence.
In this case, that meant proving that Bung Moktar had obtained gratification amounting to an offence under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act.
However, the judge noted that Bung Moktar had died on Dec 5 last year and that the court, following an application by the prosecution, had subsequently granted him a discharge and acquittal under Section 254 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Rosli said the effect of the discharge and acquittal order was that Bung Moktar was deemed innocent, as no finding of guilt had been recorded against him.
According to the judge, this affected the prosecution’s ability to establish an essential element of the abetment charges against Zizie Izette — that the principal offender, Bung Moktar, had committed the underlying corruption offence.
Zizie Izette faced three charges of abetting her husband in obtaining cash gratification totalling RM2.8 million.
On the first charge, she was accused of abetting Bung Moktar, who was then FELCRA Berhad Non-Executive Chairman, in obtaining RM2.2 million in cash gratification from Public Mutual investment agent Madhi Abdul Hamid.
The money was allegedly given as an inducement for Bung Moktar to secure approval from the Second Finance Minister for FELCRA Berhad to invest RM150 million in Public Mutual unit trust products.
On the second charge, Zizie Izette was accused of abetting Bung Moktar in obtaining RM262,500 from Madhi through a Public Islamic Treasures Growth Fund (PITGF) account registered in her name for the same purpose.
She also faced a third charge of abetting her husband in obtaining RM337,500 from another Public Mutual investment agent, Norhaili Ahmad Mokhtar, through a Public Ittikal Sequel Fund (PITSEQ) account registered in her name.
The alleged payments were linked to the same RM150 million FELCRA investment.
The prosecution’s appeal will now bring Zizie Izette’s acquittal before the High Court for further consideration. - August 18, 2026
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