MACC ordered to provide new facts in case
KUALA LUMPUR: A company director has succeeded in compelling the Malaysian Anticorruption Commission (MACC) to furnish a fresh written statement of facts in favour of his defence concerning a Rm15mil graft case linked to securing projects from the Home Ministry in 2021.
High Court judge Justice K. Muniandy allowed the revision application by Datuk Seri Sim Choo Thiam on the grounds that the early disclosure of the document was warranted for the accused’s right to a fair trial.
Sim, 54, had made the application under Section 51A of the Criminal Procedure Code for the delivery of the document to him on July 4 last year, as he claimed the MACC had recorded a statement from former Home minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin only after Sim was charged in court.
Hamzah’s name was mentioned in Sim’s charges.
Justice Muniandy, in his brief grounds of judgment, said there were favourable facts to be disclosed by the prosecution to the accused before trial, which caters for pre-trial disclosure for the accused to be on equal arms with the prosecution to fight his battle.
“The disclosure of favourable facts does not prejudice the prosecution in any way as the content of the cautioned statements by the accused person is already known by both the accused and prosecution and is already the accused’s line of defence,” the judge said here yesterday.
Sim was represented by lawyers Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, Low Wei Loke and Kee Wei Lon.
Deputy public prosecutors Nor Asma Ahmad, Rasyidah Murni Adzmi and Muhammad Asraf Mohamed Tahir appeared for the prosecution.
On Sept 27, 2023, Sessions Court judge Rozina Ayob dismissed Sim’s application to compel the prosecution to furnish him with the new written statement of facts.
She made the ruling after finding that the charges could be amended and did not prejudice the applicant.
Sim then applied to revise the Sessions Court’s decision at the High Court.
On May 10, 2023, Sim was charged with soliciting a Rm15mil bribe from Hep Kim Hong, the managing director of Asia Coding Centre Sdn Bhd, through Syed Abu Zafran Syed Ahmad, as an inducement for Hamzah, who was the then Home minister, to award projects to the company.
He allegedly committed the offence at the Shaas Holdings office in Solaris Dutamas here.
He was also charged with three counts of receiving Rm3.5mil, Rm5.5mil and Rm6mil in bribes from Hep on July 19, 28 and 30 of the same year at a parking lot in Block D1, Solaris Dutamas.
The trial has been set for 10 days from May 6 to 10 and May 13 to 17, and the prosecution will call 20 witnesses to testify.