Former Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) CEO Zahrah Abd Wahab Fenner and her son Abdulazeez Wan Ruslan were hauled to the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today to face a total of 37 corruption charges involving RM5.7 million.
Zahrah (above) and Abdulazeez were composed when they claimed trial before judge Azura Alwi.
She faces 33 charges involving RM5,718,000 while her son was hit with four counts involving RM160,000, with all charges framed under the MACC Act 2009 and Penal Code.
For 28 of the charges framed under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act, Zahrah, 60, was accused of receiving RM5,279,000 in cash in return for her to, among others, approve applications to conduct programmes such as Online Networking Entrepreneurs Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (ONE SSM) and Youngpreneurs Go Carnival (YPo) in the states of Kedah, Penang, Perlis, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Sarawak and Sabah.
Within these 28 counts, Zahrah was also accused of, among others, receiving money to approve applications for several companies to be appointed for SSM LED billboard advertising programmes in Kedah, Malacca, Perak, and Johor.
One charge framed under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act accused her of using her position as then SSM chief executive to obtain RM279,000 for her son Abdulazeez, in return of her choosing the price quoted by one Mohd Fadzly Abdul Hamid to carry out projects in which Abdulazeez had a direct interest in.
Two charges framed under Section 28(1)(c) of the MACC Act alleged that she abetted Abdulazeez to receive RM85,000 in return for her to greenlight applications by Fixme Coach Sdn Bhd and Kelab Sukan Kecerdasan Myfit.
Fixme Coach’s application was in relation to an application to setup Online Networking Entrepreneurs (ONE Portal) while Kelab Sukan Kecerdasan Myfit was for the organising of the SSM BizRun 2018.
The remaining two charges under Section 165 of the Penal Code accused Zahrah, in her capacity as a public servant, of receiving a valuable item in the form of RM75,000 in money, without consideration, from two companies, Big Dataworks Sdn Bhd and Prima Arenaniaga Sdn Bhd, which were related to her official duties.
She was alleged to have received the RM75,000 on behalf of Abdulazeez’s (photo) non-governmental organisation (NGO) Skateboarding Development Malaysia Plt.
In regard to Abdulazeez (below), two of the charges against him under Section 16(a)(A) of the MACC Act accused him of receiving RM85,000 as payment to ensure his mother Zahrah issued approval for the applications by Fixme Coach and Kelab Sukan Kecerdasan Myfit.
The remaining two charges, under Section 109 and read with Section 165 of the Penal Code, accused him of abetting his mother Zahrah to obtain the RM75,000 from Big Dataworks and Prima Arenaniaga without consideration.
All the offences were allegedly committed between December 2015 and March this year.
If convicted, Zahrah and Abdulazeez face a maximum jail term of 20 years each, and a fine of not less than five times the gratification involved or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
After their not-guilty pleas were recorded, DPP Allan Suman Pillai from MACC applied for the court to impose bail at RM1 million with two sureties for both accused, due to the gravity of the charges.
He submitted that in light of recent high profile cases such as the criminal cases of former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and former federal territories minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, among others, then the proposed RM1 million bail was not excessive.
Pillai (photo) also applied for both Zahrah and Abdulazeez’ cases be jointly heard.
Lawyer Hamidi Mohd Noh, who represented the mother and son accused, pleaded for lower bail because his clients are not political personalities like Zahid and Tengku Adnan.
The lawyer pointed out that there is no reason to set bail at RM1 million as both accused were not flight risk in light of their willingness to surrender their passports to the court.
“The risk of absconding is low as they (Zahrah and Abdulazeez) are willing to surrender their passports.
"Furthermore, (Malaysian) immigration (policy) now has absolute control (kawalan mutlak), which allows the authorities to bar certain individuals from leaving the country,” Hamidi said.
The lawyer reminded the court that bail is not meant to punish the accused before the trial even begins but merely to ensure their attendance of proceedings.
“One must be careful from setting high bail that does not involve public figures to avoid establishing a trend that would be difficult (to undo),” he said.
Hamidi said Zahrah had only retired from her post as SSM CEO two days ago and that she also suffered from high blood pressure which requires her to attend appointments with her doctor.
The lawyer added that Abdulazeez no longer has any income as his business venture had been ruined by the related investigation against him and he now has to look after his wife and a very young daughter.
“I, therefore, submit they (Zahrah and Abdulazeez) can only afford bail of RM70,000 for Zahrah and RM30,000 for Abdulazeez.
Azura allowed bail of RM300,000 with two sureties for Zahrah and RM70,000 with one surety for Abdulazeez.
“Both accused must surrender their passports (to the court) until the completion of their cases.
“They must report to the MACC in Putrajaya (once) in the first week of each month until their cases are settled,” she ruled, adding that the court also allowed the prosecution’s application for the joint trial of both accused.
The judge fixed Nov 26 for mention.
Yesterday, it was reported that Zahrah will be brought to the Sessions Court in Kula Lumpur today to face several corruption charges.
In a statement, the MACC said Zahrah would be charged along with Abdulazeez.
"MACC has obtained consent from the attorney-general to charge both of them,” it said, adding that she and her son were called to the commission’s headquarters in Putrajaya at 2pm yesterday to complete its investigation. - Mkini
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