KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court today fixed May 23 for the decision on Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan’s application to obtain the bank statements of a company in connection with his money laundering and corruption trial involving the Jana Wibawa project.
Judge Rosli Ahmad set the date after hearing submissions from the former Bersatu Information chief’s lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad and deputy public prosecutor Farah Ezlin Yusof Khan.
Earlier, Amer Hamzah submitted that the bank statements were material to the defence’s case, as they were necessary to challenge the prosecution’s narrative and to substantiate the defence’s version of events.
However, Farah Ezlin objected to the application, arguing that the requested bank statements from January 2021 were not relevant as they bore no connection to the charges or the applicant.
“In addition, the notice of application merely states that the bank statements are related to the charges, without specifying how they are essential to the applicant’s defence. This was only elaborated upon in the supporting affidavit, which is insufficient, as an affidavit cannot cure any deficiencies in the notice of application,” she submitted.
On Jan 16, Wan Saiful filed the application, naming the public prosecutor, Maybank Taman Tun Dr Ismail Branch executive Raja Muhammad Aiman Raja Sa’adi, who is also the 15th prosecution witness, and Maybank Islamic Berhad as the first, second, and third respondents respectively.
The Tasek Gelugor member of parliament is seeking a court order compelling all three respondents to provide three Maybank account statements in the name of Nepturis Sdn Bhd from January 2021 to December 2023, in physical or digital form.
In his supporting affidavit, Wan Saiful stated that during the testimony of Raja Muhammad Aiman on Sept 19 and 20, 2024, the witness referred to and verified several documents, including Maybank account statements in the name of Nepturis.
However, the defence was only furnished with bank statements covering the periods of July to December 2022 and January to June 2023.
The prosecution opposed the application, contending that the three Nepturis Sdn Bhd bank statements requested by Wan Saiful were not essential to the defence.
In today’s proceedings, the court allowed Wan Saiful’s application for the temporary release of his international passport from April 21 to 27 for work-related travel to Australia and Singapore. The prosecution did not object to the request.
Wan Saiful, 49, is accused of soliciting a bribe from Lian Tan Chuan as an inducement to assist Nepturis Sdn Bhd secure the Central Spine Road: Sertik to East Coast Highway intersection project from the Malaysian government, a pre-awarded project valued at RM232 million.
He is also accused of receiving RM6,962,694.54 in cash into his company WSA Advisory Group Sdn Bhd’s CIMB Bank Berhad account from Nepturis’ Maybank Islamic Berhad account as payment for helping the company obtain the Security, Safety, and Technical (SST) requirements for the same project.
Both offences were allegedly committed at the Royal Lake Club, Taman Tasik Perdana in April 2022, and at CIMB Bank Berhad, Bukit Tunku Branch between July 8 and Sept 30, 2022.
Additionally, Wan Saiful faces 18 charges of money laundering involving RM5.59 million, including transferring and utilising illegal proceeds, such as paying for a Ford Ranger vehicle, payments to the National Sports Council of Malaysia, and funds transfers to several company accounts, including Sinar Karangkraf Sdn Bhd’s account at CIMB Bank Berhad Bukit Tunku Branch, between Aug 12 and Nov 13, 2022.
