Car repossessor to testify in Ambank founder murder case

The High Court has fixed September 4 and 5 to hear the testimony of a car repossessor, who was charged with the murder of Arab-Malaysian Banking (AmBank) Group founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi and an attempt to murder his wife last year. Judge Datuk Mohd Azman Husin set the date after the case was re-mentioned before him Thursday. Koong Swee Kwan was charged with murdering Hussain, 75, at the Kuan Yin Chinese Temple car park at No 4. Lorong Ceylon, here, between 1.30pm and 2pm on July 29, 2013 according to Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries a mandatory death sentence upon conviction. Koong, 45, was also charged with attempting to murder Cheong Mei Kuen, 50, at the same place and time according to Section 307(1) of the Penal Code which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison, upon conviction. On June 17, Judge Mohd Azman ordered Koong to defend himself against both charges after the prosecution proved a prima facie case against Koong. In the proceedings Thursday, Koong asked the court to appoint a lawyer to represent him after his previous lawyer, Zamri Idrus, pulled out. Judge Mohd Azman said the court will appoint a new lawyer for Koong and all documents, including notes of testimony, will be obtained from Zamri. The plaintiff was represented by Deputy Public Prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin. During trial on June 9, a prosecution witness, temple caretaker Lim Sok Yee said he saw the accused shoot Hussain several times until the victim collapsed. Lim, 37, said he also saw the accused shoot Hussain's wife prior to that. Recounting the incident, the witness said: "Hussain and his wife were heading to the car park at the time, when the accused ran after them and shot Hussain's wife first until she fell. "When his wife fell, Hussain turned around and he was shot from behind. When Hussain fell I saw him (accused) fiddle with his pistol and then fired several more shots," added Lim, who said he heard five shots fired.