KUALA LUMPUR: Kinabatangan Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin has denied that an investment agent ever requested a reduction of an introduction fee.
Testifying as the first defence witness in his corruption trial, the 65-year-old politician dismissed the claim when questioned by deputy public prosecutor Law Chin How.
Law had asked whether Bung Moktar agreed that investment agent Norhaili Ahmad Mokhtar asked his wife to reduce the RM3 million fee to RM2.8 million.
“I disagree. That’s not true. That’s a malicious assumption,” Bung Moktar responded firmly to the Sessions Court.
The deputy public prosecutor then suggested Norhaili informed Bung Moktar she needed to cover expenses and could only provide RM2.8 million.
Bung Moktar again firmly denied this suggestion from the prosecution.
The Sabah Barisan Nasional Chairman also disagreed with the suggestion that he instructed his wife to handle the money.
He did agree that the money received by his wife, Datin Seri Zizie Izette Abdul Samad, was an introduction fee following Public Mutual’s procedures.
Bung Moktar rejected the assertion that Zizie Izette received the RM2.8 million due to his former position as chairman of Felcra Berhad.
When asked if his wife was surprised to receive the money from the agents, Bung Moktar stated he was not sure.
He simply said “I don’t know... whether it was a windfall or not” when questioned if the payment could be considered a windfall.
Bung Moktar was charged on May 3, 2019, with two counts of accepting bribes totalling RM2.2 million and another RM262,500.
The charges relate to an inducement to approve Felcra’s RM150 million investment in Public Mutual unit trusts.
He allegedly received the bribes from agent Madhi Abdul Hamid through his wife at a Public Bank branch on June 12, 2015.
He is also accused of accepting another RM337,500 from Norhaili via an investment fund account under his wife’s name.
The charges fall under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, carrying a maximum 20-year jail term and a substantial fine.
Zizie Izette faces three charges of abetting her husband, which carry similar penalties upon conviction.
The trial before Judge Rosli Ahmad is scheduled to continue on September 26. – Bernama
