NOD FOR BAIL VARIATION APPLICATION
High Court allows use of land titles as substitute for cash to bail ex-director
THE High Court here yesterday allowed the use of land titles as a substitute for cash to bail ex-Sabah Water Department director Awang Mohd Tahir Awang Talib, who is charged with money laundering.
Judge Datuk Nurcahaya Arshad granted the application for variation of bail, stressing it would not affect the RM2 million bail that was to be fully deposited.
Awang appeared calm and smiled when the application was granted.
In January, Judge Ravinthran Paramaguru had reduced Awang’s RM10 million bail to RM5 million with RM2 million to be deposited with two local sureties.
Awang’s family had only managed to raise RM500,000 in cash and had appealed for the use of land titles worth about RM2 million in lieu of cash to pay the remaining bail, which was to be deposited.
Nurcahaya said the application was to vary the method of payment whereby instead of RM2 million sum to be deposited, only a sum of RM500,000 shall be deposited.
“The required deposited balance of RM1.5 million will be secured by way of depositing the original copy of title deed to a landed property together with a valuation report from qualified valuers with a value not less than RM2 million. This is an application for variation on the method of payment and not application of bail. It is allowed.”
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Rozanna Abdul Hadi argued that there was a risk of the accused absconding.
“We ask the court to approach this with great caution. I’m not saying he will abscond but the risk is there,” she said.
Awang’s counsel Mohd Nor Yusof said the prosecution’s argument was not valid as there was a risk of his client fleeing even if he managed to pay his bail in cash.
Nurcahaya reminded the prosecution that the principle of bail was not to penalise the accused but to ensure his presence in court.
She said there was nothing in law that specified the payment should only be made in cash.
Nor told the court that cases of land titles being used in lieu of cash was not unheard of.
“There have been four such cases in the country, but none in Sabah so far.”
Awang was among 28 people arrested by the Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission in October last year on suspicion of siphoning money from federalfunded projects costing RM1 billion to boost clean water supply in Sabah.