KUALA LUMPUR: This year will definitely be an unforgettable birthday for former federal territories minister Tengku Adnan Mansor, who turns 70 today.
All eyes will be on the Kuala Lumpur courthouse tomorrow as judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan is expected to deliver his decision on his RM2 million corruption case at 9am.
Zaini had initially fixed Nov 17 for a decision, but it was adjourned following enforcement of the conditional movement control order.
Apart from Tengku Adnan’s case, the Kuala Lumpur court complex will be at the centre of attention as two other high-profile corruption cases — one involving former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng and the other Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin, who is also Sabah deputy chief minister, and his wife Zizie Izette Abd Samad — would also come up for mention at separate Sessions Courts tomorrow.
Tengku Adnan, better known as Ku Nan, was charged in his capacity as a civil servant, namely federal territories minister, with having received for himself a total of RM2 million from a businessman, Chai Kin Kong, who is Aset Kayamas Sdn Bhd (AKSB) director.
It was done via a Hong Leong Islamic Bank cheque belonging to the company, which was deposited into a CIMB account owned by Tadmansori Holdings Sdn Bhd (THSB), which Tengku Adnan has an interest in and is known to AKSB as being related to his official duties.
The Putrajaya MP was accused of committing the offence under Section 165 of the Penal Code at the CIMB Bank Berhad, Pusat Bandar Damansara, here on June 14 2016.
He faces imprisonment for up to two years or a fine, or both, upon conviction.
The trial began on July 2 last year with the prosecution calling 23 witnesses, which included two former Kuala Lumpur mayors, Ahmad Phesal Talib and Mohd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz, as well as Chai, the star prosecution witness.
On Oct 14 last year, the High Court ordered Tengku Adnan to enter his defence on the corruption charge after finding that the prosecution had succeeded in establishing a prima facie case against him.
Tengku Adnan, who is former Umno secretary-general, chose to give his sworn statement from the witness stand and his defence proceedings were held for two days, on Jan 17 and March 5.
In his testimony, Tengku Adnan admitted that he received a RM2 million cheque from Chai on June 14, 2016, for the campaign expenses of the Sungai Besar (Selangor) and Kuala Kangsar (Perak) by-elections on June 18 the same year.
The former minister also told the court that the RM2 million given by Chai was like “pocket money” to him.
On Dec 7, Tengku Adnan was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by a High Court here on another charge of accepting a RM1 million bribe from businessman Tan Eng Boon, who had pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of abetting the politician, and was fined RM1.5 million.
Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali made the decision after being informed that the prosecution did not wish to continue the case against Tengku Adnan as there were new developments in the case.