KUALA LUMPUR (June 19): The trial of former Bersatu Information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan, who is facing money laundering and corruption charges related to the Jana Wibawa project, has been postponed to June 24.

Judge Rozina Ayob vacated Wednesday's and Thursday's trial dates after Wan Saiful’s lawyer Joshua Tay applied for the postponement due to lead counsel Amer Hamzah Arshad taking his mother to the hospital.

"I also request that tomorrow's trial date be vacated on the grounds that my client's wife was admitted to the hospital yesterday. My client needs to accompany his wife throughout this week for treatment," said the lawyer.

Tay said that the defence had also provided a copy of the letter from the hospital to the prosecution and the court.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Rasyidah Murni Azmi told the court the prosecution did not object to the application for postponement by the defence.

Wan Saiful, 47, allegedly solicited bribes from one Lian Tan Chuan as an inducement to help Nepturis Sdn Bhd secure the RM232 million "Central Spine Road: Sertik to East Coast Highway Interchange" project from the government in the pre-qualification stage.

He is also accused of accepting RM6,962,694.54 in cash for himself through his company WSA Advisory Group Sdn Bhd's CIMB Bank account from the Maybank Islamic account belonging to Nepturis, as a reward for helping the company obtain a Letter of Acceptance for the project.

The two offences were allegedly committed at the Royal Lake Club, Taman Tasik Perdana here, in April 2022 and at CIMB Bank Bukit Tunku Branch, Taman Tunku, Bukit Tunku here between July 8 and Sept 30, 2022.

Wan Saiful was also charged with 18 counts of money laundering involving RM5.59 million by transferring and using the illegal proceeds to pay for the purchase of a Ford Ranger vehicle, making payments to the Malaysian National Sports Council as well as transferring money to several company accounts, including one belonging to Sinar Karangkraf Sdn Bhd.

The offences were allegedly committed at CIMB Bank Bukit Tunku Branch here between Aug 12 and Nov 13, 2022, and the charges were framed under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

Posted by Lam Seng Fatt