KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 — Former defence minister Mohamad Sabu's former political aide was charged today with seeking in 2019 RM5 million in bribes and receiving bribes totalling RM1.35 million in 2019 and 2020, in exchange for helping a company be appointed to a Defence Ministry project linked to intelligence or spying equipment.

Mohd Azhar Che Mat Dali was today charged with five counts under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Act at the Sessions Court here.

Dressed in a red shirt, he pleaded not guilty to each of these charges that were read out to him.

For the first charge, Mohd Azhar was accused of having asked for a RM5 million bribe on July 22, 2019 in a hotel room at the Hotel Le Apple Boutique in Kuala Lumpur from FEHM Entity Sdn Bhd managing director Elias Jemadi Tajudin.

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He was accused of having sought the RM5 million as a reward for him as an officer of a public body — as political secretary to then defence minister Mohamad — to help FEHM Entity be selected to be a strategic partner and maintenance contractor for the Sistem Prima intelligence tool of the Information Warfare Directorate (DPI) of the Defence Intelligence Staff Division (BSPP) of the Defence Ministry.

As for the remaining four charges, Mohd Azhar was accused of receiving bribes totalling RM1.35 million as a reward for the same purpose of helping the company be appointed for the contract.

Under three of these four charges, he was accused of having received RM425,000 in September 2019 at Precint 16 in Putrajaya; RM175,000 in October 2019 at the parking area in front of the Heritage Station restaurant on Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin in Kampung Attap, Kuala Lumpur; and a RM250,000 sum in early 2020 along Jalan Thambypillay next to OldTown Kopitiam in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur. 

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All three sums are said to have been given to him by Elias Jemadi via Ikaira Resources director Zainudin Abdul Majid.

As for the last charge, Mohd Azhar was accused of having in February 2020 received Baretta Trading’s Bank Islam cheque for the sum of RM500,000 from Elias Jemadi via Aqsa Solutions Sdn Bhd director Ahmad Hisham Mohd Tajuddin. He was accused of receiving this cheque at the parking area of the defence minister’s official residence on Jalan Bellamy in Kuala Lumpur.

At the time of the alleged offences, Mohd Azhar was still the political secretary to Mohamad, who was also the defence minister at that time. Mohamad, who is president of Parti Amanah Negara, is popularly known as Mat Sabu.

The offences under Section 16(a)(B) that Mohd Azhar was charged with are punishable under Section 24 of the MACC Act, with the penalty for each count being a maximum jail term of 20 years, and a fine of not less than five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi fixed bail at RM300,000 with two Malaysians to act as guarantors, as well as other conditions which the prosecution had asked for, including for Mohd Azhar to surrender his passport to the court until the trial is over.

The two other bail conditions which the judge ordered for are for Mohd Azhar to report to the MACC office in Putrajaya every month, and for him to be banned from communicating with prosecution witnesses through any methods including social media until the end of the trial.

Mohd Azhar’s lawyer Ariff Azami Hussein then sought for the court’s compassion in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic, requesting that his client be allowed to pay half of the RM300,000 bail today and to pay the remaining half next week.

The prosecution did not object to such a request, with the judge then ordering for half of the bail to be paid today and the remainder to be paid latest by October 22.

Lawyer Ariff Azami Hussein is pictured at the Kuala Lumpur High Court October 15, 2020. — Picture by Hari Anggara
Lawyer Ariff Azami Hussein is pictured at the Kuala Lumpur High Court October 15, 2020. — Picture by Hari Anggara

Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Mahadi Abdul Jumaat proposed bail at RM500,000 with a surety, given the value of the five charges involving a total value of RM6.3 million and taking into account the seriousness of the charges.

Mahadi had also proposed three conditions, namely for Mohd Azhar to report to the MACC’s Putrajaya office on the first week of each month starting from November, and for his passport to be surrendered to the court until the end of the trial, and for him to be barred from contacting or communicating with prosecution witnesses until the end of the trial.

Mohd Azhar’s lawyer Ariff Azami had proposed RM30,000 as bail instead, noting that his 49-year-old client has been unemployed since February 2020 and without an income, and that he has a wife and seven children including two still studying as well as an elderly mother-in-law.

Ariff Azami said Mohd Azhar’s wife’s income has been affected since the movement control order (MCO) was imposed amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ariff Azami also said his client is being charged for the first time in court, and has shown good cooperation since his July 2020 arrest and six-day remand by the MACC, and had appeared without fail when required to do so by the MACC.

Ariff Azami also argued that RM500,000 was slightly excessive, noting that his client was only informed yesterday that he would be charged and had only managed to collect RM30,000 in less than 24 hours for the charges today.

Ariff Azami agreed with the three additional conditions sought by the prosecution, arguing that his client is not a flight risk with the country’s borders now closed amid the recovery movement control order (RMCO).

Mahadi however said the RM500,000 bail proposed was not excessive, and that the RM30,000 bail amount proposed by Ariff Azami was too low.

The judge agreed that RM30,000 would be too low, before then fixing bail at RM300,000.

The case will come up for case management again on November 26.