SHAH ALAM, Sept 22 — Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd director and business tycoon Tan Sri Abu Sahid Mohamed, together with former construction company director Datuk Yap Wee Leong, pleaded not guilty today to 19 charges involving RM754.6 million at the Sessions Court today.
The charges include criminal breach of trust (CBT), false claims, and money laundering, all allegedly linked to the proposed MEX II highway construction project.
Both men entered their pleas before Judge Datuk Mohd Nasir Nordin after the charges were read out separately in court.
Sahid, 74, faces a single charge of CBT for allegedly misappropriating RM145.5 million entrusted to him in his capacity as Maju Holdings director. The funds were reportedly transferred to a construction company between January 12 and June 13, 2018.
The charge under Section 409 of the Penal Code carries a maximum jail term of 20 years, whipping, and a fine upon conviction.
Meanwhile, Yap, 68, claimed trial on 18 charges, nine of which were for false claims and another nine for money laundering.
For the false claims, he is accused of submitting nine fraudulent progress claims amounting to RM220.7 million at a bank branch in Petaling between November 9, 2017, and June 26, 2018. The claims, valued between RM16 million and RM28 million each, allegedly involved pre-construction works that were never carried out.
For these offences, Yap was charged under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and faced up to 20 years in prison and a fine of not less than five times the value of the false claims or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if convicted.
He is also accused of laundering RM388.3 million across nine transactions by transferring sums ranging from RM18 million to RM75 million, using both company and personal bank accounts, between June 21, 2017, and August 3, 2018, at a bank branch in Country Heights, Kajang.
These charges fall under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, which is punishable by a maximum 15-year prison sentence and fines of not less than five times the amount laundered or RM5 million, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
MACC Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Ahmad Akram Gharib requested that the current charges be transferred to the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court and to be jointly tried with a related case scheduled for mention on November 3.
The prosecution also pressed for bail to be maintained as per the Kuala Lumpur court’s earlier decision, which is RM1.5 million for Sahid and RM1 million for Yap, with their passports to be surrendered to the court.
Defence counsels Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik (for Sahid) and Abdul Hakeem Aiman (for Yap) did not object. The court approved all of the prosecution’s requests.
On September 8, it was reported that Sahid had previously claimed trial in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on four charges of CBT involving over RM300 million and 13 charges of money laundering involving more than RM100 million, while Yap pleaded not guilty to 17 charges involving false documents worth RM314.4 million.
