Malaysian corruption trial involving ex-Felda chief Isa Samad begins on Monday

KUALA LUMPUR - A corruption trial involving Isa Samad, a former Malaysian Cabinet minister will begin on Monday (Oct 7), one of several ongoing and upcoming trials featuring former top leaders of the ousted Barisan Nasional (BN) government.

Isa, who was chairman of key government agency Felda (Federal Land Development Authority) is facing one count of criminal breach of trust, and nine for corruption, involving the inflated purchase price of a hotel in Kuching, Sarawak, in 2014.

Isa, 69, pleaded not guilty in December last year to receiving gratification, amounting to more than RM3 million (S$1 million), by approving a proposal for the purchase of a Kuching hotel for Felda Investment Corporation (FIC).

Bernama news agency reported on Sunday that the High Court case will be before judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali from 9am Monday to Thursday. It will then be continued from Oct 14 to 25.

The charge was framed under Section 409 of the Penal Code, which provides for imprisonment of up to 20 years, whipping and fine, if found guilty, Bernama said.

Isa, a former vice-president of Umno, the lead party in BN, is the fourth highest-ranking former official to have been dragged to the courts since the fall of the BN administration.

Ex-Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, 66, is facing 42 charges of corruption, money laundering and abuse of power in relation to state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and its former subsidiary SRC International.

The SRC trial has concluded while the 1MDB trial is ongoing.

Former deputy prime minister, and current Umno president, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, has been charged with 87 counts of corruption, criminal breach of trust and money laundering.

These charges are linked to his family-run foundation Yayasan Akal Budi and the operator of a foreign visa system Ultra Kirana.

The trial for the cases involving Zahid, 66, has not started.

Meanwhile in the third high-profile case, former Federal Territories minister and ex-Umno secretary general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, 68, is currently on trial after being charged with accepting bribes to approve projects under his ministry.

Another former top government official, Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, in January claimed trial to three counts of graft amounting to RM5.2 million over allegations that he helped a Malaysian company to obtain government contracts.

Abdul Azeez, 52, is a former member of the powerful Umno supreme council and chairman of the government's pilgrimage agency Tabung Haji.

Other upcoming high-profile cases include those involving Najib's wife Rosmah Mansor, and his stepson Riza Aziz - Rosmah's son from a previous marriage.

Rosmah, 67, is facing 20 charges in court, with the latest in April this year for accepting a RM5 million bribe in relation to a government solar power project.

She has already been hit with a barrage of money laundering and tax evasion charges linked to the looting of sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.

Riza, the Malaysian producer of Hollywood film The Wolf Of Wall Street has been charged with illegally receiving almost US$250 million (S$345 million) from 1MDB.