KUALA LUMPUR – Former Felda chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad will know his fate on nine corruption charges involving RM3 million over the agency’s purchase of Merdeka Palace Hotel & Suites (MPHS) in Kuching, Sarawak, this Wednesday.
High court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali will decide whether Isa, 71, who is also former Negri Sembilan menteri besar, is guilty of the offence or not.
According to the court cause list, Nazlan is expected to deliver his ruling at 9.30am.
Isa was charged with nine counts of dishonestly receiving gratification for himself in cash totalling RM3,090,000 from Ikhwan Zaidel, a board member of Gegasan Abadi Properties Sdn Bhd (GAPSB), through his former special political officer Muhammad Zahid Md Arip, as gratification for helping to approve the purchase of the hotel by Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd (FICSB) for RM160 million.
All the offences were allegedly committed at Level 49, Menara Felda, Platinum Park, No. 11, Persiaran KLCC near here between July 21, 2014, and December 11, 2015.
The charges come under Section 16 (a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, punishable under Section 24 (1) of the same law, which provides a jail term not exceeding 20 years and a fine of at least five times the bribe amount or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
Hearing of the case began on October 8, 2019, with the prosecution calling 22 witnesses, including former Felda director-general Datuk Hanapi Suhada, former FICSB CEO Mohd Zaid Abdul Jalil, Ikhwan and Zahid.
On June 16 last year, Nazlan ordered Isa to enter his defence on nine corruption charges after finding the prosecution successfully adduced credible evidence proving each and every essential ingredient of the offence of accepting gratification under Section 16 (a) (A) of the MACC Act.
The judge, however, discharged and acquitted Isa on one criminal breach of trust (CBT) charge over the hotel purchase after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against him.
Isa chose to give his sworn statement from the witness stand and his defence proceedings were held on August 17 last year.
In his testimony, Isa denied receiving RM3 million in nine transactions from Zahid in 2014.
“I never instructed Zahid to ask Haji Ikhwan (Ikhwan Zaidel) to reward me for helping to approve the purchase of MPHS,” he had said.
On September 3 last year, the defence closed its case after calling six witnesses, including Isa’s former secretary Zuraida Ariffin and former special officer Kamar Bashah Shariff, afer Isa was called as the first witness.
On December 24, last year, during submissions at the end of the defence, counsel Datuk Salehuddin Saidin, representing Isa, said that the RM3 million was for Zahid and his cronies and not for his client.
Deputy public prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz argued that Zuraida's testimony showed that Zahid had the freedom to enter Isa's room without permission and his presence in the accused's room was also not recorded by Zuraida.
"This is enough to prove that Zahid has easy access to the accused's room, and he could have easily entered the accused’s room to hand over the money from Ikhwan, as what he had testified. This clearly shows that Zuraida did not see Zahid handing over the money to the accused," he had said. – Bernama, February 1, 2021
