KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 — The prosecution’s application to transfer the corruption cases of Kinabatangan MP Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and his wife Datin Seri Zizie Izette from the Sessions Court to the High Court will be heard on August 9.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Allan Suman Pillai said the prosecution also wants the couple to be tried jointly.
He said the new date was set by the deputy court registrar after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) submitted its notice of motion for the transfer application on June 18.
Initially, Sessions Court judge Rozina Ayob had set the next case mention for August 5.
“The prosecution will write in to the Sessions Court applying for the date be changed from August 5 to August 9 so that both dates before the High Court and Sessions Court would be the same,” Pillai told reporters at the court complex here.
Pillai said lawyer Datuk K. Kumaraendran, representing Bung and Zizie, had not objected to the transfer application.
The prosecution said all documents required under Section 51A of the Criminal Procedure Code have been given to the court and the defence team.
Pillai said the prosecution will apply for Bung’s and Zizie’s cases to be made into a joint trial once it gets approval for the transfer to the High Court.
Bung was charged on May 3 with three counts of accepting bribes amounting to RM2.8 million in July 2015 when he was non-executive chairman of Felcra Berhad to approve the wholly-owned government corporation’s RM150 million unit trust investment in Public Mutual Berhad.
Zizie was charged with three counts of abetting her husband in the same offences.
Bung was charged under Subsection 17(a) of the MACC Act and punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act, which provides imprisonment not more than 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount of the bribe or RM10,000 whichever is higher, upon conviction.
Zizie was charged under Section 28(1)(c) of the MACC Act which is also punishable under Section 24(1) of the same act, with it carrying the same punishments as Bung’s charges.
Both claimed trial.
