Former religious affairs minister Jamil Khir Baharom has pleaded not guilty to three charges of dishonestly causing Tabung Haji to dispose of RM860.3 million of its funds.
He made the plea at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court before judge Rosli Ahmad this morning.
According to the charge sheets, Jamil allegedly caused Tabung Haji to dispose of the funds to Al-Rawda Investment for Real Estate Development and Projects Management Co Ltd on three separate occasions.
He was charged under Section 403 of the Penal Code, which punishes those who "dishonestly misappropriates, or converts to his own use, or causes any other person to dispose of, any property".
The charges carry a jail term of up to five years, caning and a fine.
According to the charges, the three disposals were made on April 3, 2015, Dec 13, 2016 and Aug 17, 2017 involving 44.17 million Saudi riyals (RM42.94 million), 250 million Saudi riyals and 471.8 million Saudi riyals, respectively.
He was alleged to have committed the offence at the religious minister’s office on those dates.
RM300k bail
Deputy public prosecutor Farah Ezlin Yusop Khan suggested that the court set RM1 million bail for Jamil and confiscate his passport.
However, Jamil’s lawyer Hisyam Teh Pok Teik pleaded for a lower global bail amount of RM300,000, given that his client is only relying on his ministerial and retired army pensions.
The court then fixed RM300,000 bail and confiscated his passport, as well as fixing Nov 5 for case management.
Hisyam told reporters after the proceedings that the prosecution will be supplying documents to them at the next date.
“We will study the documents carefully, diligently and put up a strong defence.”
Fourth to be charged
Previously, Jamil was detained by MACC for seven days between Sept 2 and 8 to assist the authorities’ investigations over the leasing of a Tabung Haji linked hotel in Saudi Arabia, as highlighted in the royal commission of inquiry report into the pilgrims’ funds.
Jamil was the fourth individual charged over Tabung Haji’s scandal following the publication of the RCI reports.
The other individuals were former Tabung Haji chairperson Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, THP Bina Sdn Bhd’s former deputy general manager of construction Tengku Kamarolhisham Tengku Kamaruddin and the company’s former safety and health officer Nasahruddin Ahmad.
Tabung Haji’s former chief operating officer Adi Azuan Abdul Ghani was initially scheduled to face charges at Shah Alam Sessions Court on Sept 3. However, his proceedings have been moved to the 24th due to hospitalisation. - Mkini
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