KUALA LUMPUR: A former Felcra chief financial officer took instructions from company chairman Bung Moktar Radin on investing in a unit trust as his appointment to the position was approved by him, the sessions court heard today.
Testifying in the corruption trial of Bung and his wife, Zizie Izette Abdul Samad, Azmy Abu Samah said he was also under probation during the period.
The chartered management accountant previously worked for a government-linked company and joined Felcra in August 2014, but left slightly more than a year later.
Azmy, the 26th prosecution witness, also said he did not inform Felcra chief executive officer Ramlee Abu Bakar of the proposed investment in the Public Mutual trust fund.
“I did not report to the CEO because the investment proposal came from the chairman (Bung),” he said when examined by deputy public prosecutor Sophian Zakaria.
He said he did not understand the work culture at Felcra as there were two camps.
Last week, Azmy revealed that then chief investment officer Dzulkaranain Md Eusope, who had been in Felcra much earlier than him, told him the two camps were led by Bung and Ramlee.
Sophian: Why did you follow Bung’s instructions and bypassed the CEO?
Azmy: It was the chairman (Bung) who approved my position as CFO.
Sophian: What would have happened if you did not follow the chairman’s orders?
Azmy: At that time, I did not think of that.
Azmy said that during a late night meeting at a hotel here on May 4, 2015, Bung asked him to expedite a board resolution to invest RM150 million instead of RM50 million.
He had said last week the Minister of Finance Inc [MoF Inc], the single shareholder of Felcra, had approved the RM150 million after Bung presented three proposals.
He said that during his tenure at Felcra, he did not have a professional or casual relationship with Zizie.
“I met her two or three times but never spoke to her,” he said.
He also said he did not know that Zizie had a hand in the unit trust investment at the time.
Bung, 64, who is also the Sabah deputy chief minister, is facing two charges of accepting bribes amounting to RM2.2 million and RM262,500 as an inducement to obtain Felcra’s approval to invest in the unit trust fund.
The non-executive chairman of Felcra at the time, he is accused of accepting bribes through Zizie at Public Bank’s Taman Melawati branch here between 12.30pm and 5pm on June 12, 2015.
He also pleaded not guilty to accepting RM335,500 in cash as a bribe from unit trust consultant Norhaili Ahmad Mokhtar, through Zizie, for the same reason and at the same place on June 19, 2015.
Zizie, 44, pleaded not guilty to three charges of abetting her husband in the matter at the same place, date and time.
The hearing before trial judge Rozina Ayob continues. - FMT
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