The Kuala Lumpur Sessions court has temporarily returned Bung Moktar Radin’s passport for him to travel to the Middle East on business, Malaysiakini reported today.
The court allowed the Sabah deputy chief minister to hold his passport from November 10 to 22.
Bung’s lawyer, Teh See Khon said judge Rozina Ayub approved the temporary release of the passport. The prosecution did not object to Bung’s application.
“Allowed. From November 10 to 22,” the lawyer told the news portal, referring to the application for Bung’s travel document, adding that the trip was for business purposes.
The application was filed on November 2.
Bung is the latest politician to be allowed by the court to travel while facing trial, after former prime minister Najib Razak and his wife had their passport returned to them by the Kuala Lumpur High Court to enable them to visit their daughter in Singapore. The couple are facing corruption charges.
Najib’s lawyer, Muhamad Shafee Abdullah, who is also facing graft charges received his passport back so that he could attend to his son’s education at Parsons School of Design in New York.
Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also successfully applied to get his passport back to seek medical treatment in Germany
Bung is accused of taking a RM2.2 million cash bribe from Public Mutual’s investment agent Madhi Abdul Hamid, 38, through Zizie Izette, when he was the Felcra chairman.
He is accused of taking the money as a reward for obtaining the Finance Ministry’s approval for Felcra to make a RM150 million investment in Public Mutual unit trust products.
Bung Moktar is also accused of accepting RM262,500 from Madhi and RM337,500 from Public Mutual investment agent, Norhaili Ahmad Mokhtar for the same reason.
The charges are framed under subsection 17(a) of the MACC Act and punishable under section 24(1) of the same act which provides for imprisonment of not more than 20 years and a fine of no less than five times the amount of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, for the convicted party. – TMI