Kuala Lumpur: The Sessions Court today approved the application by Kinabatangan MP Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and his wife, Datin Seri Zizie Izette Abdul Samad, to halt the defence proceedings related to their corruption charges amounting to RM2.8 million. Judge Rosli Ahmad allowed the stay following a submission by the couple’s counsel, M. Athimulan, who noted that the prosecution did not object to the request, pending the outcome of a judicial review application challenging the Court of Appeal’s decision that mandated the couple to present their defence.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the couple’s legal team, including counsel Datuk Seri K. Kumaraendran, and deputy public prosecutors Law Chin How and Mohamad Fadhly Mohd Zamry, confirmed no objection to the stay application was received. “The trial was initially set to proceed today,” noted Athimulan. “However, given the stay order, we respectfully ask for the trial dates to be scheduled post-judicial review application.”
The Court of Appeal registrar has set a case management session on April 11 to determine the hearing date for the judicial review application. Consequently, Judge Rosli has rescheduled the trial for August 18-20 and September 2-4 and 24-26, 2025, vacating the previously set dates.
The Court of Appeal had, on November 18 last year, mandated Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and Datin Seri Zizie Izette Abdul Samad to present their defence on three corruption charges. This followed the prosecution’s successful appeal against their prior acquittal by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on September 7, 2023.
Originally, on September 2, 2022, Sessions Court Judge Rozina Ayob determined that a prima facie case had been established, requiring the accused to defend themselves against all three charges. Bung Moktar, who served as the non-executive chairman of Felcra Berhad, was charged on May 3, 2019, with accepting bribes of RM2.2 million and RM262,500 to facilitate Felcra’s RM150 million investment in Public Mutual unit trusts. The bribes were allegedly received from Public Mutual Berhad investment agent Madhi Abdul Hamid through Zizie Izette at a Public Bank Berhad branch on June 12, 2015. Additionally, Bung Moktar faces charges of corruptly receiving RM337,500 from another Public Mutual investment agent, Norhaili Ahmad Mokhtar, through a fund account under Zizie Izette’s name, also tied to securing Felcra’s investment approval.