JOHOR BARU: The former president and chief executive officer of a government-linked company has been charged at the Sessions Court here with fraud involving millions of ringgit.
Datuk Kamaruzzaman Abu Kassim, 58, pleaded not guilty to having deceived the board members of Johor Corporation (JCorp) to invest millions of ringgit in World Logistics Council Limited, which could no longer continue its operation.
According to the charge sheet, Kamaruzzaman had encouraged the board members to agree with his proposal and approved a US$5mil (RM21mil) temporary fund where US$1mil (RM4.21mil) from the fund were later used to invest in World Logistics Council Limited while another US$1.25mil (RM5.26mil) were invested to World Logistics Council Americas LLC.
He is accused of committing the offence on July 8, 2019 at a board of directors meeting room in Menara Komtar Johor Baru between 9.30am and 1.45pm.
The charge was read in front of judge Wan Mohd Norisham Wan Yaakob at the Johor Baru Sessions Court here on Tuesday.
Kamaruzzaman was represented by lawyer K. Ragunath while the case was handled by Malaysian-Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy public prosecutor Zander Lim Wai Keong.
He was charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code with cheating where if found guilty, he could face a maximum of 10 years imprisonment with whippings and fines.
Judge Wan Mohd Norisham set bail at RM150,000 with one surety and May 25 for mention.
He also set additional conditions for the accused where he is required to hand over his passport to the court, report to the nearest MACC office once a month and not communicate with the witnesses involved in the case, especially those from JCorp.
However, his lawyer requested that the handover of the passport be done at a later date as the accused and his wife would be attending the Haj pilgrimage between April 7 and 18. The judge approved the request and allowed the passport to be handed over to the court latest by April 23.
The accused posted bail.
Kamaruzzaman was the president and chief executive officer of JCorp between 2010 and 2019.