Abd Latif Bandi, 51, and Amir Shariffuddin Abd Raub, 44, claimed trial to 33 charges allegedly committed at a bank in Larkin Perdana here, between Nov 13, 2013 and Oct 19 last year.
Latif was dropped from chairing the state’s housing and local government portfolio last month after he took leave following investigations on his son and a special officer who were arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over alleged graft offences.
He stands accused of conspiring with Amir to accept bribes from certain individuals as an inducement to obtain approval for release of a number of Bumiputera-reserved housing lots to the public, and for a discount in the contribution amount to the Johor State Housing Fund for the Eco Botanic Project in Pulai.
Amir allegedly accepted bribes from certain individuals for himself and Latif to allow for any transaction with regard to approval for release of the Bumiputera lots to the public and discount in fund contribution.
The charges are framed under Section 28 (1)(c) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, read with Section 16 (a)(B) and Section 24 of the same Act, which provides for imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
The prosecution proposed RM5 million as bail for each accused in view of the seriousness of the offence, but the defence countered that the sum was unreasonable as every bank account and property owned by both accused had been frozen.
Judge Mohd Fauzi Mohd Nasir set RM2 million as bail in one surety for each accused and May 23 for re-mention.
The passports of the two accused were also impounded by the court pending disposal of the case, which was conducted by MACC prosecution director Masri Mohd Daud and deputy public prosecutor Amir Nasruddin.
Latif was represented by counsel Hasnal Rezua Merican and five other lawyers while Amir was represented by counsel Asrul Z Stork.