Sept 10 trial date for Hydroshoppe Director’s KL Tower concession bribery charge

KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court has scheduled a 15-day trial beginning September 10 for a company director charged with offering an annual bribe of RM500,000 over 15 years to benefit Tan Sri Annuar Musa in relation to the Kuala Lumpur Tower (KL Tower) concession acquisition.

Judge Suzana Hussin confirmed the dates after deputy public prosecutor Mahadi Abdul Jumaat informed the court that both the prosecution and defence teams had agreed to the schedule.

The dates are set for Sept 10 and 11, Oct 29 and 30, Nov 6 and 7, Dec 4, 5, and 9 to 12, 2024, and Jan 7 to 9, 2025.

Fifteen prosecution witnesses will testify against Hydroshoppe Sdn Bhd director, Datuk Abdul Hamid Shaikh Abdul Razak Shaikh, who is represented by lawyer Weera Premananda.

Abdul Hamid Shaikh, 50, is accused of offering a bribe through Datuk Tan Ser Lay, 60, as an inducement for Annuar, who was then the Minister of Communications and Multimedia, to expedite the management and administration takeover of the KL Tower concession by his company.

The offence allegedly occurred at the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia in Putrajaya between July and August 2022.

He is charged under Section 16(6)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of either five times the bribe amount or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.

Hydroshoppe is also charged under Section 17A(1)(a) of the MACC Act 2009 as a commercial organisation for jointly offering the bribe to Tan for Annuar's benefit, at the same location and dates.

This charge is punishable by a fine of at least 10 times the bribe amount or RM1 million, whichever is higher, or up to 20 years in prison, or both, upon cponviction.

-- BERNAMA