JOHOR BARU: A 36-year-old former chief executive officer of a sand mining company claimed trial at the Johor Baru Sessions Court today to two charges of money-laundering and dishonest misappropriation of property involving his former company's assets.
Rizam Sahar was charged with misappropriation of RM105,000 obtained through illegal activities, which was transferred from his bank account into the account of Public Bank RS Star Contractors & Construction Sdn Bhd via two cheques.
He was accused of committing the offence at the Public Islamic Bank (M) Bhd in Ulu Tiram between Dec 29, 2014 and Feb 2, 2015.
The charge is under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (Act 613), for money laundering which carries up to 15 years jail term, a fine of not more than five times the amount involved, or RM5 million, whichever is higher.
In the second charge, Rizam was accused of misappropriating of RM1,249,286 from his account, which is the amount of sand production royalty belonging to Syarikat Dinamik Gabungan Wilayah JB Sdn Bhd.
He is accused of committing that offence at the same place between November 2014 and March 2015.
The second charge is under Section 403 of the Penal Code for dishonest misappropriation of property, which carries a jail term of not less than six months and not more than five years with whipping or fine, upon conviction.
Sessions Court Judge Mohd Fauzi Mohd Nasir set bail of RM50,000 with one surety for each of the charges. He also fixed Feb 1 next year for mention.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission prosecuting officer Khazrin Hafiz Halil prosecuted.
Rizam was represented by lawyer R. Subash.