PUTRAJAYA – The Court of Appeal has postponed to August 26 to deliver its verdict on former Tabung Haji chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim’s appeal to strike out his corruption and money laundering charges.
This was after Azeez’s lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad requested the court to postpone its decision following a reply he received from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) on June 27 relating to the Baling MP’s representation letter to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC).
He said according to the MACC, there have been new leads that it was looking into, and that MACC was set to brief the AGC on the new development.
Amer Hamzah said he had submitted a letter requesting the court to give time to the MACC and AGC to decide on his client’s representation.
He added that he had applied to the court to postpone the earlier decision on March 21 pending the AGC’s reply to their representation, adding that the court then fixed the decision date for today.
He said this would be the third postponement.
As there was no objection from the prosecution, judge Datuk Seri Kamaludin Md Said, who led a three-member panel, allowed the postponement and said it would be a final postponement.
“We got a lot of other cases, the court has granted postponement several times and it was not good in the eyes of the public,” said Kamaludin.
Azeez, 55, is appealing against the high court’s decision on March 12 last year, which dismissed his application to strike out three corruption charges involving RM5.2 million in connection with road projects in Perak and Kedah, and 10 money laundering charges involving RM13.9 million, which he allegedly received from Menuju Asas Sdn Bhd.
For the three corruption charges, he was alleged to have committed the offences at CIMB Bank, Jalan Tun Perak in Kuala Lumpur on December 8, 2010, and at Affin Bank, Puchong City Centre, Selangor, on June 13, 2017, and April 10, 2018.
On the money laundering charges, Azeez was charged with committing the offences in Klang Valley between March 8, 2010, and August 30, 2018. – Bernama, July 1, 2022
