Kota Kinabalu: The Special Corruption Court here fixed Dec 11 for clarification or a decision in the corruption trial involving former Sabah Railway Department chief engineer Ismail Ahmad and his two wives after the defence closed its case.
The defence called its final five witnesses on Tuesday, bringing the total number of defence witnesses to 10, before requesting one month to file its submissions.
Judge Andi Razalijaya A. Dadi directed both parties to file their submissions simultaneously by Oct 29, with replies to be filed by Nov 12.
Earlier, the sixth defence witness, oil-palm plantation operator Apdullah @ Abdullah Basri @ Batrik, 62, said in his witness statement that he had rented a 5.34-acre oil-palm plot in Kampung Kabajang, Beaufort, belonging to Ismail and his second wife, Runtiah Rais, since 2013 and continues to rent it.
He said the land was initially left unattended and that he offered to cultivate it, with Runtiah agreeing to rent it to him for RM750 a month.
Apdullah said the arrangement was based on trust and there was no written tenancy agreement.
He said he paid the rent in cash, usually accumulating several months’ rental before handing the money to Runtiah when they met in Beaufort, adding that she handled the rental and collection.
The seventh witness, financial consultant Teng Kui Huong, 49, said she entered into a loan agreement with Ismail and Runtiah on April 30, 2013, under which she agreed to lend RM200,000, secured by a piece of land in Kampung Gumandang, Kudat.
She said she eventually advanced RM120,000 in cash by instalments between May 2013 and September 2016, after Ismail told her that the money was needed for investment and to settle some loans.
Teng said she had kept a manual record of the loan payments but could no longer locate it.
She said Ismail had made no repayment despite having seven years to settle the loan by April 29, 2020.
According to Teng, Ismail later told her that his bank accounts and land had been frozen and asked to transfer the collateral land to her as repayment once his court case was resolved.
The eighth witness, pensioner Othman Ahmad, 67, said he was Ismail’s brother and had agreed to lend him and his first wife, Muhilim @ Masniah Buaya @ Buayie, RM150,000 under a loan agreement dated Jan 30, 2014, after Ismail said he needed the money for investment.
Othman said he had actually advanced RM120,000 in cash to Ismail in instalments between 2011 and 2014, but had lost his earlier payment records and could no longer remember which bank he had used to withdraw the money.
He said the loan was given on trust between siblings and that he had no documents proving the individual cash payments, with the only surviving written document being the loan agreement.
Othman said Ismail had not repaid the loan, but he had not pressed him for payment because he was his brother and he understood his situation.
The ninth witness, retiree Jaebeh @ Jaybee Buaya @ Buayie, 66, said he had agreed to lend Ismail and his first wife, Muhilim @ Masniah Buaya @ Buayie, RM150,000 for investment purposes, with the personal loan initially agreed in 2013.
Jaebeh, who is Muhilim’s brother, said the agreement was only formally documented in writing in 2018. He said he had also explained the matter to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) when he gave his statement during investigations that year.
He said he had actually advanced RM100,000 in cash to Ismail in instalments between 2013 and 2016, with the loan later settled when Ismail transferred a 1.70-acre parcel of land in Kampung Beringgis, Papar, to him in 2016.
The 10th witness, self-employed kuih and food seller Saipah Rais, 52, said her younger sister, Runtiah, had supplied kuih to her businesses at Tanjung Aru Market and Tanjung Aru beach on a daily basis.
Saipah, who has operated at Tanjung Aru Market since 2010 and Tanjung Aru beach since 2011, said Runtiah earned between RM700 and RM800 a week from the kuih sales.
She said she paid Runtiah the proceeds in cash every week but kept no records of the payments because they were sisters.
The defence then closed its case after Saipah completed her evidence.
Ismail, 65, is jointly charged with his first wife, Muhilim @ Masniah Buaya @ Buayie, 65, over RM275,550 allegedly derived from unlawful activities between March and September 2016 at the HSBC Bank branch here.
He is also jointly charged with his second wife, Runtiah Rais, 49, over RM133,300 allegedly derived from unlawful activities between February and September 2016 at the OCBC Bank branch here.
Runtiah also faces five separate money laundering charges involving a total of RM30,000 allegedly derived from unlawful activities.
Each charge is framed under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, which provides for a jail term of up to 15 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount of the proceeds of the unlawful activity or RM5 million, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
Ismail, Muhilim and Runtiah were represented by counsel Zahir Hussien Ahmad Shah, Datuk Rizwandean M Borhan and Elhanan James.
MACC Deputy Public Prosecutors Haresh Prakash Somiah, Nurul Izzati Sapifee and Shafiq Mahadi appeared for the prosecution.
