'I have never seen money in paper bag working with Isa Samad' - Witness

A former special officer to Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad told the High Court today that he had never seen money in any paper bag he was carrying while working with the former Felda chairman for six years.

Kamar Bashah Shariff, 65, who was also Mohd Isa's former bodyguard, said he would normally check or look briefly at the contents of the bags belonging to Mohd Isa that he was carrying.

"I have never seen Tan Sri Isa carry or hold any bag out of the office (Mohd Isa) because I would be the one carrying any item Tan Sri Isa brought along.

"If he had business outside, I would go in and take the items inside the office that he wanted to bring along," he said when reading his statement on the second day of Mohd Isa's defence proceedings over nine corruption charges.

The third defence witness said he would first inspect Mohd Isa's belongings to ensure that they were the right ones to be taken into the car.

Kamar Bashah said during his tenure as a special officer, he would accompany Mohd Isa everywhere, especially on matters related to his job.

"When Tan Sri Isa was in the office, I was also the individual who would be in the office and returning home with Tan Sri Isa. As far as I remember, I would only be off on weekends.

"However, usually, I would also accompany Tan Sri Isa if he had work outside on weekends. As a former police officer, I was used to always working and not taking leave," he said.

According to him, during his time with Mohd Isa, he had never heard from him (Mohd Isa) or individuals close to him regarding any matter on seeking bribes from any source.

When questioned by lawyer Datuk Salehuddin Saidin who represented Mohd Isa, whether the witness had permission from Mohd Isa to inspect the bags, Kamar Bashah replied "Tan Sri did not forbid me to do so because that has become normal".

During cross-examination by Deputy Public Prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz, the witness agreed that Mohd Isa would determine the bags that the witness needed to take into the car.

Afzainizam: Will you carry the bags, if you know they contained money?

"I will bring them too because money is something that is important and needs to be given attention. I did not think Tan Sri Isa would tell whether the money was bribe money or otherwise," replied Kamar Bashah.

Mohd Isa faced nine charges of accepting bribes amounting to RM3,090,000 from the board member of Gegasan Abadi Properties Sdn Bhd, Ikhwan Zaidel through Muhammad Zahid Md Arip, as a token of gratitude to help approve the purchase of a hotel by Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd (FICSB) at RM160 million.

All the offences were allegedly committed at Level 49, Felda Tower, Platinum Park, No. 11, Persiaran KLCC here between July 21, 2014 and Dec 11, 2015.

Each charge is charged under Section 16 (a) (A) of the MACC Act 2009 and is punishable under Section 24 (1) of the same act, which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount or value of the bribe or RM10,000 according to which is higher, if convicted.

The trial before Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali would resume on Sept 3.

-- BERNAMA