WAN SAIFUL FILES APPLICATION TO STRIKE OUT JANA WIBAWA GRAFT CHARGES

KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 (Bernama) -- Former Bersatu information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan has filed an application to strike out two charges of soliciting and accepting bribes amounting to RM6.9 million involving the Jana Wibawa project, on the grounds that they are defective.

Lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad, who represented Wan Saiful as the applicant, told Sessions Court Judge Rozina Ayob said that the defence has filed the application under Section 173 (g) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

“My client would like to raise a preliminary objection to the charges he is facing, and this application is supported by the supporting affidavit and it has been submitted to the prosecution,” said Amer Hamzah at the case management today.

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Deputy public prosecutor, Mohd 'Afif Ali, said that the prosecution received a copy of the application notice on May 29 via email, and it needed time to respond to the notice on or before June 9.

According to Mohd 'Afif, the prosecution has submitted documents related to the case to the defence.

The court set June 27 to hear the application.

Wan Saiful, who is also the Member of Parliament for Tasek Gelugor, filed the notice at the Sessions Court on May 29.

Based on the notice, Wan Saiful is seeking the court’s order for the charges against him to be dismissed, on the grounds that the charges are defective.

Wan Saiful, 47, is charged with soliciting a bribe from one Lian Tan Chuan as an inducement for him to help a company, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, secure the “Central Spine Road: Sertik to East Coast Expressway Interchange” project, worth RM232 million, from the Malaysian government.

He is also charged with receiving RM6,962,694.54, which was transferred from a Maybank Islamic Bhd account owned by Nepturis Sdn Bhd into a CIMB Bank Bhd account owned by his company, WSA Advisory Group Sdn Bhd, as a reward for helping the company obtain a letter of acceptance for the project.

He is alleged to have committed both offences at the Royal Lake Club, Taman Tasik Perdana here, in April 2022, and at CIMB Bank Bhd Bukit Tunku branch, Taman Tunku, Bukit Tunku here between July 8, 2022, and Sept 30, 2022.

-- BERNAMA