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KUALA LUMPUR: A new development in the RM1mil corruption case involving Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor has resulted in the High Court granting him an exemption that did not amount to an acquittal (DNAA).
Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali granted the DNAA order to the former Minister of Federal Territories after he was informed that the prosecution did not wish to pursue his case at this stage in accordance with article 254 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
According to this section, the prosecution can refuse to continue prosecuting at any stage.
“The process will be suspended and the accused will be discharged,” the judge said yesterday.
Judge Nazlan said the court did not order a full acquittal on the grounds that the prosecution had a new development that needed to be investigated.
“Having listened to the briefs, in my opinion, the reasons given by the well-known Deputy Prosecutor on the reasons for a new fact, and the need to investigate it, are the basis that justifies this court not to order the total acquittal in accordance with Section 254 (3) of the Code, ”he added.
Earlier, DPP Julia Ibrahim told the court that the case was initially scheduled to resume yesterday with the cross-examination of the second witness in the case, Deputy Secretary of the Malaysian Business Commission (SSM) Muhammad Akmaludin Abdullah.
He said that the prosecution had received an order to request the order from DNAA.
“There is a new development in the case that needs to be investigated further. The prosecution does not want to waste the court’s time, as it is unclear how long it could last.
“We cannot explain the details. What we can say is that there is a complaint with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) regarding a witness in this case.
“Therefore, the prosecution requests that a DNAA be granted to the defendant,” he said.
The DPP Julia also informed the court that the prosecution would inform the defense of the status of the investigation if they wanted to know more.
Tengku Adnan’s lawyer, Datuk Tan Hock Chuan, said it would be unfair to be granted a DNAA and asked that his client be acquitted in full.
“My client was arrested on November 14, 2018 and was charged for the first time in the Court of Sessions on November 15 of that same year. The charge has been hanging over his head for two years.
“The prosecution did not give a clear time frame on how much more time they would need to investigate this new development,” said Hock Chuan.
It set a precedent in which a full acquittal was granted in the cases of former Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman and former Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.
In 2018, Tengku Adnan, who is a deputy from Putrajaya, was accused of corruptly receiving RM1 thousand from businessman Datuk Tan Eng Boon.
The money was allegedly deposited into Tengku Adnan’s CIMB Bank account as an incentive to assist a request by Nucleus Properties Sdn Bhd to increase the company’s parcel ratio to a development project on Lot 228, Jalan Semarak , Kuala Lumpur.
Tengku Adnan also faced an alternative charge, in his capacity as minister of federal territories, of receiving for himself RM1 thousand from Eng Boon through a check from the Public Bank belonging to Pekan Nenas Industries Sdn Bhd which was deposited into his CIMB account, knowing that Eng Boon, as a director of Nucleus Properties, had connections to his official functions.
On September 17, 2019, Eng Boon pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of complicity with Tengku Adnan and was fined RM1.5 thousand.
Tengku Adnan then filed a request that Judge Nazlan not hear the case on the basis that the judge had read and considered the facts in the Eng Boon case.
Judge Nazlan dismissed Tengku Adnan’s request, leading him to appeal to the Court of Appeal.
In February, the appeals court ruled in favor of Tengku Adnan and ordered the trial to be held before another judge on the grounds that Judge Nazlan could be biased.
However, on July 17, a three-member court of the Federal Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals and the case was referred to Judge Nazlan.
Tengku Adnan also faces another corruption charge in which he is accused of receiving a total of RM2 thousand from businessman Tan Sri Chai Kin Kong, who is a director of Aset Kayamas Sdn Bhd (AKSB).
The trial of the Superior Court judge, Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, had concluded and the case was set for resolution on December 21.
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