Ramli, a former managing director of Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS), had made the application on the grounds that he was unfit to stand trial.
Justice Azhar Abdul Hamid ruled today that Ramli’s mental state ought to be determined by the trial judge in the sessions court.
“The application is dismissed and is remitted to the sessions court for the trial judge to make a determination of his mental fitness,” he said.
Ramli had applied for Azhar to use his inherent power to quash the charges.
Ramli’s daughter, who filed an affidavit, said a medical examination had confirmed that her 80-year-old father was suffering from “progressive neurodegenerative disease” and had a condition akin to “moderate mixed dementia”.
The case will be mentioned before sessions judge Suzana Hussain on July 30.
Ramli is accused of fraudulently approving three payments amounting to RM21.08 million to three different firms without the approval of the BNS board.
He was charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code, which provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine if found guilty.
On the first charge, he was accused of committing an offence by fraudulently approving the transfer of RM13,541,140 to a Singapore-based company, Setaria Holdings Limited, without the approval of the BNS board. The offence was allegedly committed between July 26, 2010 and March 25, 2011.
On the second charge, he was accused of fraudulently approving the transfer of RM1,350,716 to another Singapore-based company, JSD Corporation Pte Ltd, without the approval of the BNS board.
The offence allegedly took place between April 19 and May 4, 2011.
The third charge alleged that Ramli had fraudulently approved the transfer of RM6,182,295 to Sousmarin Armada Ltd without the approval of BNS’ board. He allegedly committed the offence between Oct 28 and Nov 22, 2010.
Ramli, who is freed on bail of RM500,000, was represented by Yusof Zainal Abiden and Alex Tan. Deputy public prosecutors Mahadi Jumaat, Asraf Tahir and Zander Lim appeared for the prosecution.