Tahir was unable to fully pay his RM2 million bail by cash and had tried to put up land titles in lieu.
His family members had only managed to raise RM500,000 in cash. His lawyers therefore filed a motion at the High Court here seeking to pay the bail with RM500,000 in cash and the remaining RM1.5m through land title deeds.
Judge Nurchaya Arshad allowed the application to pay the said amount in cash and land titles with the valuations assessed by registered valuers at no less than RM2 million.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Rozanna Abdul Hadi argued against the application citing a case where land titles were posted as bail and the appellant subsequently absconded.
Tahir’s counsel Amli Nohin countered that if his client eventually absconded, there would be no difference between bail fully satisfied in cash and that posted in cash and land titles.
The Sessions Court had in January reduced Tahir’s bail from RM10 million to RM5 million, with RM2 million to be posted in one local surety.
On Dec 29 last year, Tahir, 54, and his wife Fauziah Piut, 51, along with the department’s former deputy director Lim Lam Peng, were charged with 37 counts of misappropriating infrastructure funds worth more than RM60 million under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act. All three pleaded not guilty.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) reportedly seized some RM114 million in relation to the case. It is said to be the largest cash seizure in the country by the anti-graft authority.
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