Religious Influencer Pleads Not Guilty to CBT of More Than RM13.8 Million Belonging to NGO

SEREMBAN: A religious preacher and influencer pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court here today to 34 charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving money amounting to more than RM13.8 million belonging to a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

The accused, Abdullah Abdol Razak, 40, also requested to be tried on 17 other charges of money laundering amounting to RM1.55 million before Judge Kunasundary Marimuthu.

Abdullah, who is also a freelance preacher, was the Chairman of Pertubuhan Rezeki Infaq Malaysia when the offences were allegedly committed.

For the CBT charges, he was alleged to have committed the offences at a bank in Seremban 2 between February 2023 and March 2026.

For the charges under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA), the offences were allegedly committed between May 2024 and February 2026 at the same location.

The CBT charges were made under Section 409 of the Penal Code, which provides for a minimum imprisonment of two years and a maximum of 20 years, as well as whipping and a fine, upon conviction.

For money laundering, the accused was charged under Section 4(1)(b) of AMLA, which carries imprisonment of not more than 15 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the proceeds of unlawful activity or RM5 million, whichever is higher.

Meanwhile, the secretary of the NGO, Noor Sahira Abdullah, 30, was also charged separately with abetting Abdullah in committing the CBT offences.

She was charged under Section 109 of the Penal Code read together with Section 409 of the same code, and pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Ahmad Akram Gharib informed the court that the offences committed by Abdullah are non-bailable. However, if the court wished to offer bail, the prosecution proposed an amount of RM1 million with two sureties.

He also requested that the court order the accused not to interfere with prosecution witnesses and surrender his passport to the court.

However, lead counsel Azrul Zulkifli Stork applied for a lower bail amount on the grounds that his client’s bank accounts had been frozen.

He said Abdullah, who is married and runs a restaurant, has to support 11 children and a mother.

Judge Kunasundary then allowed Abdullah to be released on bail of RM700,000, with RM300,000 of it being an unsecured bail, along with two sureties. The court also allowed the other applications by the prosecution.

For Noor Sahira, Deputy Public Prosecutor Syairah Aqilah Khalil proposed bail of RM250,000 with two sureties.

Azrul Zulkifli once again applied for lower bail on the grounds that the accused only earns RM3,000 a month and needs to support a five-month-old baby and her parents.

Judge Kunasundary set bail for Noor Sahira at RM200,000 with two sureties.

The court set September 28 for case mention for both accused.

Astro Awani