KUALA LUMPUR – The high court today allowed an application by former Lembaga Tabung Haji chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, who faces three counts of corruption and 10 of money laundering, to stay the hearing of the case pending the outcome of his appeal at the Court of Appeal to strike out all the charges.
Judge Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin made the decision after finding that there are special circumstances that justify the court using its discretion to stay the hearing at the sessions court.
“After considering the submission by the counsel, and taking into account that there is no objection by the prosecution, the court hereby allows the application by the applicant.
“The court also considers the principles of law in an application to stay a hearing. In this case, there are special circumstances that justify the court staying the trial proceedings at the sessions court until the disposal of the applicant’s appeal at the Court of Appeal.”
On March 12, Azeez failed in his bid to quash the charges following Jamil’s decision to dismiss the appeal on the grounds that the charges are not defective and are based on the provisions of the law.
Azeez on the same day filed an appeal against the dismissal of his application at the Court of Appeal, while the bid to stay the proceedings at the sessions court was filed on April 8.
Earlier, lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad, representing Azeez, submitted that the fact that the prosecution did not object to the stay application shows that it appreciates the dynamics of the proceedings, that there is no prejudice to the state.
“There would be no prejudice to the prosecution. Rather, it would prejudice the applicant if the stay was not allowed,” he said, adding that the appeal has been fixed for case management on June 8 at the Court of Appeal.
Deputy public prosecutor Adam Mohamed told the court that the prosecution has received an instruction from the Attorney-General’s Chambers to not object to the stay application.
Azeez was charged with three counts of accepting bribes amounting to RM5.2 million in connection with road projects in Perak and Kedah, and 10 of money laundering involving a total of RM13.9 million that he allegedly received from Menuju Asas Sdn Bhd.
The offences were allegedly committed at the CIMB Bank branch in Jalan Tun Perak here on December 8, 2010, and the Affin Bank branch at Puchong City Centre in Selangor on June 13, 2017 and April 10, 2018.
He allegedly committed the money-laundering offences in the Klang Valley between March 8, 2010 and August 30, 2018. – Bernama, April 12, 2021
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