EZAIRI SAMSUDDIN
KUALA LUMPUR: Two brothers, who were prosecution star witnesses in the corruption case of former political secretary to Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu, were slapped with multiple charges of making contradictory statements during the trial.
Ahmad Hisham Mohd Tajuddin, 54, and Zainuddin Abdul Majid, 53, pleaded not guilty after the charges were read out to them before Sessions Court judge Siti Aminah Ghazali.
Former company director Ahmad Hisham faced four charges of giving clashing statements during the trial of Mohd Azhar Che Mat Dali before a Sessions Court judge on May 9 and June 9 last year.
The statements were inconsistent with what he had given gave to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Senior Assistant Superintendent Shamsudin Md Noh on Nov 2, 2022.
Zainuddin was charged with five counts of committing the same offence on March 21 and April 7 last year where his statements were inconsistent with what he told Shamsudin on Nov 4, 2022.
The charges were framed under Section 27(2) of the MACC Act 2009, which carries a maximum fine of RM100,000 or maximum imprisonment of 10 years, or both, if convicted.
Deputy public prosecutors Farah Yasmin Salleh and Muhammad Asraf Mohamed Tahir asked the court to set bail at RM30,000 for each of the accused.
The duo were ordered to surrender their passports to the court until the disposal of the case and report to the nearest MACC office every month.
In mitigation, the defence counsel for the siblings, Wan Shahrizal Wan Ladin, pleaded for bail to be set at RM5,000 as they were unemployed and caring for their mother.
"The offence did not bring any harm to other parties. They will be using their mother's savings to pay for their bail," he said.
Siti Aminah set bail at RM10,000 with one surety for each of the accused and allowed the prosecution's applications.
Feb 26 was set for mention for both cases.