Kota Kinabalu: The Special Corruption Court has rejected an application for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) for a businessman charged with offering bribes totalling RM350,000 to two assemblymen in relation to applications for mineral exploration licences in Sabah.
Sessions Court Judge Jason Juga disallowed the DNAA application for Datuk Tei Jiann Cheing, 37, also known as Albert, made by his counsel Edward Paul, citing a notice of entry prohibition issued against Tei by the State Government, during the mention of his case, Friday.
Jason said the prosecution will make necessary arrangements with the Immigration Department for the purpose of Tei entering Sabah for the trial.
He added that the defence may also apply for zoom for the purpose of pre-trial case management (PTCM) or mentions for the case.
The court set Nov 28, this year for PTCM.
Earlier, during the proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Mahadi Jumaat, who appeared with DPP Rustam Sanip for the prosecution, informed the court that Tei had been denied entry into Sabah by immigration officers upon his arrival at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) on Oct 23, this year, at 3.30pm, and a notice of entry rejection was later handed to the prosecution that same evening.
Mahadi said the prohibition order had been previously issued by the State Government.
“For the court’s information, the reason for the rejection was due to the accused’s failure to inform the Immigration Department that his purpose for entering Sabah was to attend court proceedings this morning,” he said.
He further explained that a Notice of Hearing dated Oct 21 had already been issued to the accused and served to his defence counsel on Oct 22, but the notice was not presented to immigration officers at KKIA for verification.
Mahadi added that during the previous mention on Sept 23, Tei was also initially denied entry into Sabah on Sept 22, but was later allowed entry after informing the officers that he was attending court proceedings.
“Based on the facts, I believe the accused’s failure to present the Notice of Hearing at KKIA yesterday was the main reason he was denied entry,” Mahadi said, while requesting for another PTCM to serve relevant documents to the defence.
In reply, Edward confirmed they received the Notice of Hearing and forwarded the same to his client.
He, however, refuted the prosecution’s claim that his client had not informed the immigration officers of his reason for entering Sabah.
“I do not know where he got this information from as for sure he was not there during that time. My client informed us that he had informed the immigration officers that he was attending the court case fixed for today.
The immigration officers had straight away told him that he has been banned from entering Sabah. They did not ask for any documentary proof to that effect, and just inform him ‘no’ he cannot enter Sabah.
“The simple point is that it is a total ban from entering Sabah. It is not a conditional ban where he is allowed to enter only for the purpose of attending court. He got lucky on the first time where the Immigration Department took the initiative to find out about this case. This they did not do yesterday,” said Edward who, together with counsel Bartolomew Jinggulam, defended Tei.
On the first count, Tei allegedly gave a RM150,000 bribe to incumbent Tanjung Batu Assemblyman Datuk Andi Muhammad Suryady Bandy, as an inducement to assist in the processing of the Sinaran Hayat Sdn Bhd’s application for a Prospecting Licence for mineral in Sabah.
He allegedly committed the offence at 11pm on May 12, 2023, at Andi’s residence in Jalan Pantai, Sembulan, near here.
On the second count, Tei is accused of giving a RM200,000 bribe to incumbent Sindumin Assemblyman Datuk Dr Yusof Yacob, as an inducement to assist in the processing the Prospecting Licence for Nusa Kini Sdn Bhd also to explore for minerals in Sabah.
The offence allegedly took place at 2pm on March 6, 2023 at the Rooftop Bar & Grill @ Hilton, here.
It is believed that Syarikat Nusa Kini and Syarikat Sinaran Hayat based in Sabah were owned by Tei's business partners.
Tei was charged under Section 16(b)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times of the amount involved, or RM10,000, or which one is higher, on conviction.