KUALA LUMPUR: Kinabatangan MP Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and his celebrity wife Datin Seri Zizie Ezette A. Samad were hauled to the Sessions Courts here to face graft charges amounting to RM2.8mil over Felcra Bhd’s investment in unit trust worth RM150mil.
Both pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Earlier, Bung and Zizie arrived together at the court complex but were brought to different courts to face the charges separately.
Among those who turned up at the court complex yesterday were his party colleagues Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who is from Sabah Umno.
The money, totalling RM2.8mil, is supposedly a reward for getting an approval from the Finance Minister II for Felcra to invest RM150mil in Public Mutual Bhd.
The offences were allegedly committed at the Public Bank in Taman Melawati on June 12 and 19, 2015.
The charges are framed under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) 2009.
Bung faces a maximum of 20 years in jail and a fine of no less than five times the amount of gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
The 60-year-old pleaded not guilty before Sessions Court judge Rozina Ayob.
Meanwhile, Zizie also pleaded not guilty before judge Azura Alwi to three counts of abetting her husband in the offences.
She was charged under Section 28(1)(c) of the MACC Act 2009 and faces the same punishment.
DPP Datuk Umar Saifuddin Jaafar offered bail at RM100,000 each. Lawyer Datuk K. Kumaraendran, who represented Bung and Zizie, did not object.
The courts allowed bail of RM100,000 with one surety each and ordered for the couple to surrender their passports.
Their cases are fixed for mention on June 10.
Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/05/04/bung-and-wife-claim-tr...
