KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — A director for the firm Hydroshoppe Sdn Bhd today claimed trial at the Session Court to the charge of giving bribes to former minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa in return for favours to handle concessions for the Kuala Lumpur Tower.
Abdul Hamid Shaikh Abdul Razak Shaikh, 49, pleaded not guilty when charges were read out to him where he stands accused of offering RM500,000 per year for a 15-year period to the former communications and multimedia minister in return for him to speed up the approvals for his company to handle concessions for the KL Tower.
Abdul Hamid is charged under Section 16(b)(B) and 24(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and is said to have tried to offer bribes to Annuar through one Datuk Tan Ser Lay sometime between July and August last year at the ministry's headquarters.
He is said to have offered bribes to Annuar to speed up the approvals for his company to handle the administration and operations of iconic Kuala Lumpur landmark.
The charges were read in front of Judge Suzana Husin who then set bail at RM50,000 and asked Abdul Hamid to report himself to the MACC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur once every two months beginning in May this year until the trial is over.
He was also told to surrender his passport to the court.
Previously the MACC said two individuals, aged 49 and 59, including a managing director who acted as a middleman to handle kickbacks in the deal, were arrested at the MACC headquarters after giving their statements.
MACC was investigating the possibility that the selection of the company concerned involved a request for bribes amounting to hundreds of thousands of ringgit and a luxury watch as a gift to the “superior” to facilitate the take-over.
Prior to this, the MACC was reported to have investigated allegations over the suspicious sale of shares and the take-over of the KL Tower operations and maintenance concession from Menara Kuala Lumpur Sdn Bhd, a company wholly owned by Telekom Malaysia (TM) Bhd.
MACC said it would be investigating if there were elements of corruption involved in the sale of public-listed firm TM's shares in October from its subsidiary which manages Menara KL Sdn Bhd (MKLSB) to Hydroshoppe.
In December, Annuar denied having anything to do with public-listed firm TM’s transferring of shares in October from its subsidiary MKLSC which manages Menara KL to Hydroshoppe.
Annuar, who was the communications and multimedia minister from August 2021 to November 2022 said TM as a public firm does not require permission from the minister for share transfers.
