Appeals Court dismisses final review bid by Bung Moktar, wife over graft case

PUTRAJAYA - Kinabatangan Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and his wife Datin Seri Zizie Izette Abdul Samad failed in their final attempt to challenge the Court of Appeal’s decision ordering them to enter their defence on three corruption charges involving RM2.8 million.

This followed a decision by a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali, which unanimously dismissed the couple’s application for leave to review the decision.

Justice Che Mohd Ruzima, who sat with Court of Appeal judges Datuk Azizul Azmi Adnan and Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid, said the couple failed to demonstrate exceptional circumstances or a miscarriage of justice that would justify a review of the ruling.

On Nov 18 last year, a Court of Appeal panel led by Justice Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim allowed the prosecution’s appeal and overturned the High Court’s decision to acquit Bung Moktar and Zizie Izette, ordering both to enter their defence.

The couple filed the leave applications in March this year under Rule 105 of the Rules of the Court of Appeal 1994, contending that the previous Court of Appeal panel lacked jurisdiction to hear the prosecution’s appeal and wanted the review panel to reinstate the High Court ruling.

In delivering the court's decision, Justice Che Mohd Ruzima said the Court of Appeal had always exercised caution when invoking its power to review earlier decisions, as such a review, on the face of it, runs contrary to the principle of finality.

The judge said that when counsel for Bung Moktar and Zizie Izette submitted that there had been an injustice in the case, the court observed that the couple were not without an alternative remedy.

"The point raised before us can be canvassed in an appeal from the Sessions Court, should a conviction subsequently be recorded. We are of the view that the threshold requirements for leave to review the prior decision of this court have not been met.

"We are also of the view that this is a point that may validly be raised at the end of the defence case. For these reasons, we find that the threshold requirement for leave to review this court's previous decision has not been fulfilled. Therefore, this application is dismissed," he said.

In today's proceedings, the prosecution was represented by deputy public prosecutors Law Chin How, Mohd Fadhly Mohd Zamry and Maziah Mohaide, while lawyers Datuk Seri K. Kumaraendran and M. Athimulan appeared for Bung Moktar and Zizie Izette, respectively.Following this ruling today, Bung Moktar and Zizie Izette are scheduled to enter their defence on corruption charges before Sessions Court Judge Rosli Ahmad on Aug 18.In September 2022, the Sessions Court ordered the couple to enter their defence. The couple succeeded in overturning the ruling through revision applications they had filed at the High Court. This prompted the prosecution to appeal to the Court of Appeal.Bung Moktar, 65, who was then the non-executive chairman of Felcra Berhad, was charged on May 3, 2019, with two charges of accepting bribes of RM2.2 million and RM262,500 as an inducement to obtain Felcra's approval to invest RM150 million in Public Mutual unit trusts.He was alleged to have accepted the bribes from Public Mutual Berhad's investment agent Madhi Abdul Hamid through Zizie Izette, 46, at Public Bank Taman Melawati Branch, Kuala Lumpur between 12.30 pm and 5 pm on June 12, 2015.Bung Moktar was also charged with receiving RM337,500 in cash from Unit Amanah consultant, Norhaili Ahmad Mokhtar, under the name of Zizie Izette for the same reason and place on June 19, 2015, while Zizie Izette was charged with three counts of abetting her husband over the matter at the same place, date and time.On April 9, this year, the Sessions Court allowed the couple's application to stay the defence proceeding pending the outcome of the review application. - BERNAMA