Ex-CEO of Companies Commission hit with 33 corruption charges totalling RM5.71m

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 — Datuk Zahrah Abd Wahab Fenner, a former chief executive of the Companies Commission of Malaysia, today claimed trial to 33 corruption and abetment charges amounting to RM5.71 million.

Her son, Abdulazeez Wan Ruslan, was also charged at the same Sessions Court, with four counts of corruption and abetment amounting to RM160,000.

Both mother and son will face trial together as their cases are related.

Judge Azura Alwi set bail at RM300,000 for Zahrah and RM70,000 for Abdulazeez.

“I have decided that for the accused Zahrah, bail is set for RM300,000 with two sureties and for Abdulazeez, it is set for RM70,000 with one surety.

“Both the accused must surrender their passports until the case is completed and present themselves at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters in Putrajaya in the first week of every month until the trial is over,” she said.

Azura then set November 26 as the deadline for the submission of documents.

Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Allan Suman Pilai asked for bail to be set at RM500,000 each.

However, defence lawyer Hamidi Mohd Noh argued that both Zahrah, who retired last week, and her son could not afford the sum.

He claimed Zahrah only earned RM2,229 a month, suffers from high blood pressure, needs medical treatment, and has many commitments as a single mother..

The lawyer said businessman Abdulazeez was a newlywed with a daughter under his care.

“She (Zahrah) is supporting Abdulazeez until now. Abdulazeez has no income. He is a businessman but his businesses are ruined because of the investigations and both their accounts are frozen. Abdulazeez has a liability of RM9,000 a month.

“I plead to the court to set bail amount for Datuk Zahrah at RM70,000 and for Abdulazeez at RM30,000 because this is all they could afford,” said Hamidi.

Out of the 33 charges against Zahrah, 10 involved her approving applications to organise One Networking Entrepreneurs Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia 2015 (ONE SSM) carnivals between 2015 and 2018 throughout the country.

She is accused of receiving bribes between RM100,000 to RM109,000 per case from Ramulianto Mohram through a man named Mohamad Shahren Mohamad Yusri for approving the 10 events and her offence falls under Section 17 (a) of the MACC Act.

Another 11 charges involved Zahrah approving SSM commercial LED billboards throughout Malaysia for which she was allegedly paid between RM320,000 and RM350,000 per transaction from Ramulianto via Mohamad Shahren.

She had allegedly approved the billboards to be installed by SSJ Niaga, Desa Nirwana Sdn Bhd, Idea Resources (M) Sdn Bhd and Ikhlas Padu Sdn Bhd.

Zahrah was also accused of receiving six bribes between RM40,000 and RM100,000 from Ramulianto through Mohamad Shahren for approving the Carnival Youngprenerus, Go! Programme (YPGo) at various public tertiary education institutions nationwide.

Her 28th charged involved her alleged acceptance of a RM200,000 bribe from the same two individuals to approve the appointment of Marikaya Enterprise to organise Bizfair 2018 in Sabah.

If found guilty under these offences, she will face imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty years; and a fine of not less than five times the sum or value of the gratification which is the subject matter of the offence, where such gratification is capable of being valued or is of a pecuniary nature, or ten thousand ringgit, whichever is the higher.

At the same time, Zahrah was also charged with allegedly using her position to ensure Abdulazeez allegedly received RM279,000, RM15,000, and RM70,000 in three separate cases.

She and Abdulazeez also face two charges under Section 165 the Penal Code for accepting RM25,000 and RM50,000 on behalf of her son’s company Skateboarding Development Malaysia Plt from Big Dataworks Sdn Bhd and Prima Arenaniaga Sdn Bhd respectively.

If found guilty, both of them will face imprisonment for up to two years or a fine or both.

Meanwhile, her son Abdulazeez is accused of allegedly accepting RM15,000 from Fixme Coach Sdn Bhd (now known as Pocket Trade Sdn Bhd) director Samhan Adnan to ensure that his mother approves their bid to develop the Online Networking Entrepreneurs portal (ONE Portal).

Under the same Act, Abdulazeez was also charged with accepting RM70,000 from Samhan, who is also the president of Kelab Sukan Kecergasan Myfit, through Mohd Fadzly Abdul Hamid to ensure that Zahrah approves a RM225,000 payment to the club to organise SSM BizRunn 2018.

If found guilty under these offences, Abdulazeez will be face imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty years; and a fine of not less than five times the sum or value of the gratification which is the subject matter of the offence, where such gratification is capable of being valued or is of a pecuniary nature, or ten thousand ringgit, whichever is the higher.

Related Articles Former SSM CEO, son to be charged for corruption tomorrow Ex-Felcra Training & Consultancy MD faces 33 charges in RM1.64m graft case Rina Harun: Ministry targets 50pc women to be registered entrepreneurs under Companies Commission