Malaysian Latest Drama "I fakeit, you fakeit'

Free Malaysia Today - KUALA LUMPUR: A businessman has been charged in the Sessions Court here with cheating National Feedlot Corportation (NFC) chairman Mohamad Salleh Ismail of more than RM1.7million over the failed promise to provide “negotiation and consultation service”.

Shamsubahrin Ismail, 45, dressed in a dark blazer, purple shirt and light blue jeans, pleaded not guilty and claimed trial to two separate charges, both under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

The first charge read that Shamsubahrin, CEO of Shamsubahrin Ismail Resources Sdn Bhd, had cheated Mohamad Salleh by promising the NFC chairman his consultation and negotiation services, with the knowledge that the offer was false and intended to cheat him by inducing him to part with a service fee.

This incident allegedly occurred at 6pm on Nov 20 at a restaurant in Bukit Tunku here.

The second charge was that Shamsubahrin had, between Nov 25 till Dec 6, received cheques amounting to RM1.755 million from Mohamad Salleh at Solaris in Mont Kiara.

For the offence of cheating, Shamsubahrin could face between one to 10 years jail, with whipping and can also be fined.

It was reported last week that a “Datuk fixit” was arrested by the police and handed over to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for allegedly attempting to bribe several senior investigators to “settle” the case over the NFC.

MACC’s head of prosecution Abdul Razak Musa, who handled the case, told reporters that the suspect was being charged with cheating instead of corruption because it related to “corruption and an attempt to influence somebody”.

Earlier, Abdul Razak asked the court to set bail at RM300,000 and seize the accused’s passport as this was a case of public interest.

He also told the court that Shamsubahrin was offered a Datukship by the Pahang palace in 2009 but he had never officially accepted it though the the “offer” was still valid.

Shamsubahrin’s defence lawyer J Rao argued that his client should be considered innocent until proven guilty and bail should not be punitive in nature.

Asking that bail be lowered, he said Shamsubahrin’s assets had been frozen by the MACC and his client was dependant on his family for money.

Rao also said Shamsubahrin was married and had four children, the eldest being 18 and youngest three.

Judge Ahmad Zamzani Mohd Zain set bail at RM300,000 with one surety and ordered for Shamsubahrin’s passport to be consficated.

Mention was fixed on Jan 31 next year where the prosecution would submit documents relating to the case.

Of cattle and condos

Last week, MACC officers went to the NFC main office in Jalan Solaris in Mont Kiara and seized documents and a CPU.

A day before that, police arrested a 45-year-old businessman for allegedly attempting to bribe senior officers who were investigating the NFC scandal. The individual, who was also being investigated over numerous cheating cases, including seven in Kuala Lumpur, was later handed over to the MACC.

NFC, which is run by the husband of Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, had come under attack from the opposition, especially PKR, since the release of the Auditor-General’s 2010 report, which said the corporation was “in a mess”.

In the latest in a series of exposés, PKR said Shahrizat’s family owned a luxury condominium worth RM10 million in Singapore.

It was revealed that the 2,282 sq ft unit at Anthony Road, Orchard Scotts, was purchased in January 2010, and was registered under the name of Shahrizat’s husband and their children.

PKR accused Shahrizat’s family of misappropriating the RM250 million of public funds meant for NFC.

In earlier revelations, it said large sums were used to purchase a luxury condominium in Bangsar and a luxury car. It also claimed that the beef that NFC produced was channelled to restaurants belonging to Shahrizat’s family.

Shahrizat, who heads Wanita Umno, denied that she was involved in any wrongdoing. However, she faces growing calls to quit as minister, not only from opposition parties, but from within Barisan Nasional and Umno as well.

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When a person is on the verge of bankruptcy, an offer of RM5 million is hard to say NO.  So will the Condo Cow scandal blow over or will it remain relevant to all concern parties?

When one has the money and need not expose the players and pay back RM250 million, there is always a sucker to be bought.

MACC, Police and AG should stop making fools of themselves to continue to safe guard crooks who should spend time reflecting on their greed in isolation.