Former TH COO Charged With Receiving Over RM302,000 in Renovation Costs for Three Houses

SHAH ALAM: Former Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) Chief Operating Officer (COO) Datuk Adi Azuan Abdul Ghani pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court here on Thursday to three charges of receiving more than RM302,000 in renovation costs for three houses nine years ago.

Adi Azuan, 56, entered the plea after all three charges were read to him before Judge Awang Kerisnada Awang Mahmud.

According to the three charges, Adi Azuan, who was then serving as TH’s COO, allegedly received valuable consideration in the form of renovation costs for three houses in Section 13 here, Kota Damansara and Subang Jaya, valued at RM235,866.58, RM50,698.74 and RM15,933.95 respectively.

The renovation costs were allegedly received from AG Reka Sdn Bhd director Thamsulazri Ismail, whom Adi Azuan knew to be connected with matters handled by him in his official capacity, at the same locations on March 7, 2017.

All three charges were framed under Section 165 of the Penal Code, which provides for imprisonment of up to two years, a fine, or both upon conviction.

During the proceedings, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Deputy Public Prosecutor Muaz Ahmad Khairuddin told the court that the offences were non-bailable.

However, he said that should the court exercise its discretion to grant bail, the prosecution proposed bail of RM70,000 with one surety.

“The prosecution leaves it to the court’s discretion to impose any additional conditions on the accused,” he said.

Meanwhile, lawyer Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin, representing the father of four sons, appealed for a lower bail amount on the grounds that his client retired last year and has a heart condition.

“He also has to support two of his children, aged 25 and 20, who are still studying at university, while the other two are still in school.

“I also appeal for my client’s passport not to be surrendered to the court as an additional condition because he will be travelling to the Holy Land to perform umrah,” he said.

Wan Azwan appeared together with lawyers Datuk Tania Scivetti and Effa Azuin Aidrul Hisham.

After hearing submissions from both parties, Awang Kerisnada allowed the accused bail of RM50,000 with two sureties residing in Selangor or Kuala Lumpur.

The judge also imposed an additional condition requiring the accused to report to the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya once every three months.

“The passport must be surrendered to the court. However, if the accused requires the travel document to go abroad, including to perform umrah, an application may be made to the court for its temporary release.

“The accused is also prohibited from interfering with prosecution witnesses throughout the proceedings,” he said, before fixing Nov 25 for case mention.

Adi Azuan was initially scheduled to be charged on Sept 3, but the proceedings were postponed after he was hospitalised due to heart complications.

He was among several senior TH officials named in the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report following findings concerning disciplinary action taken against them over several cases of serious misconduct, which were subsequently reduced following appeals.

According to the RCI report, the disciplinary action involved four main issues — the sale of shares in PT TH Indo Plantations, a RM22.12 million contribution to Yayasan Tabung Haji without ministerial approval, the declaration of the 2017 hibah profit distribution, and false claims.

Sinar Harian