Judge Rosli Ahmad allowed the couple’s applications after their lawyer, Ashok Athimulan, informed the court that his clients needed their passports from today until Jan 15 to perform the umrah.

He said his clients would leave for Saudi Arabia on Jan 5 and are expected to return to Malaysia on Jan 14.

“I request that the passports be handed over today because the absence of passports makes it difficult for them to make the necessary reservations,” he said.

Rosli then ordered the passports to be handed over to the couple today and returned to the court on Jan 15.

The prosecution, represented by deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, did not object to the applications but informed the court that the case had been fixed for mention on Jan 22.

On Dec 5, Vivy, whose real name is Vivy Sofinas Yusof, 37, and Fadzarudin, 36, pleaded not guilty to criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM8 million in investment funds belonging to Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB).

The couple, as directors of Fashion Valet, are accused of having the common intention to commit CBT over Khazanah and PNB’s investment funds entrusted to them by making a payment of RM8 million from the bank account of Fashion Valet to 30 Maple Sdn Bhd without the approval of Fashion Valet’s board of directors.

The offence was allegedly committed at Public Bank’s Bukit Damansara Branch, 36-40 Medan Setia 2, Plaza Damansara Bukit Damansara, here, on Aug 21, 2018.

They were charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same law, which provides for imprisonment of up to 20 years as well as a whipping and the possibility of a fine, upon conviction.