Branded items tendered as evidence

KUALA LUMPUR: Fourteen Louis Vuitton t-shirts, which were seized from the house of a former senior officer of the Youth and Sports Ministry facing 32 charges of misusing his position and submitting false claims involving RM38.4 million, were tendered as evidence in the trial at the sessions court.

The t-shirts, submitted by Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission (MACC) principal senior assistant superintendent Asmawi Kulup Lam, 37, were among 36 t-shirts of various brands that were seized by the commission when it raided the home of former Youth and Sports Ministry’s Finance Division secretary, Otman Arsahd (pix), 59.

Apart from the t-shirts, there were also two pairs of Dolce&Gabbana and Giorgio Armani pants submitted as evidence during examination-inchief by deputy public prosecutor Husmarudin Husin.

A total of 22 t-shirts with the brand names Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Kenzo, Song For The Mute, Sacai, and Dolce&Gabbana were also tendered one by one during the hearing before judge Azura Alwi.

“We also seized a laptop with a charger, but the laptop is at the MACC Forensic Unit,” said Asmawi, who is the 49th prosecution witness.

He also tendered three smartphones as evidence. On April 21, 2016, Otman, represented by lawyer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali, was charged with 64 counts of receiving RM16.623 million, which were from unlawful proceeds, through cheques that were deposited into his Maybank, RHB and CIMB Berhad accounts between March 7, 2012 and Dec 11, 2015.

Besides Otman, a director of a sports company affiliated with the ministry, Abdul Gafar Abdurahiman, 44, and his wife, Siti Rohanah Hussien, 44, who is a housewife, were each charged with 63 counts of transferring RM15.723 million into a bank account owned by Otman during the same period.

They were alleged to have committed the offence at different locations including RHB Bank branch in Precinct 8, Putrajaya; Menara Maybank in Jalan Tun Perak, and Maybank branch in Jalan Raja Laut. – Bernama