KUALA LUMPUR: The five corruption charges related to the Jana Wibawa programme against Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Segambut division deputy chief Adam Radlan Adam Muhammad will be tried together.
This was after Sessions Court Judge Suzana Hussin allowed the prosecution's application for a joint trial after the cases were transferred to her court.
"I allow the charges to be tried together; and the dates that had been set for it are maintained," she said.
She set Feb 16 for mention.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Mohd Fadhly Mohd Zamry told the court that in the last proceedings, they were waiting for a decision on whether the cases would be tried together or otherwise.
"Today, we want to inform the court that the prosecution is ready to apply for the five cases to be tried together.
"This application is being made under Section 61 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009," he said.
He requested for a mention date before the start of the trial for the prosecution to update the list of witnesses to be handed to the court for trial purposes.
Adam Radlan's defence counsel Alaistair Brandah Norman said he had no objection to the application for a joint trial.
As for Adam Radlan's seven charges under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFPUAA), Fadhly said the prosecution had handed over the documents to the defence.
"I was made to understand that the defence wants to study the documents before informing if they have objections or not for the charges under the Act," he added.
This was confirmed by Alaistair.
On Sept 14, Suzana fixed a 15-day trial in May to hear the three corruption charges against Adam Radlan.
It was set from May 27 to 29; June 10 to 12; July 9 to 11; July 22 to 24 and Aug 5 to 7.
On Feb 21 last year, Adam Radlan was charged with two counts of soliciting and accepting a bribe of RM500,000 in relation to the programme.
The next day, he was charged with two counts of accepting bribes over RM4 million in bribes in relation to the same programme.
He was also accused of receiving RM2 million from one Lian Tan Chuan as an incentive to help Nepturis Sdn Bhd obtain the North Klang District Headquarters Project from the government worth RM141 million between April 4, 2022 and Jan 5 last year.
On Feb 28 last year, he was once again charged for asking for a RM2 million bribe from Lian as a reward to help Nepturis Sdn Bhd get a contract for the Klang Utara district police headquarters worth RM141 million.
On Oct 25, he was charged with money laundering under AMLATFPUAA for using RM500,000 from his CIMB Bank account between December 2021 and February 2022 at the bank's Bukit Tunku branch.
On Nov 9, he claimed trial to six counts of money laundering charges involving RM3.6 million.
Adam Radlan, as the director of Bumiraya Sdn Bhd, had allegedly transferred illicit proceeds totalling RM3.675 million from the company's account to his personal bank account and three other individuals between Dec 1 and Dec 27, 2022.
The charges were framed under Section 4(1)(b) of AMLATFPUAA.
The offence under AMLATFPUAA carries a jail term not exceeding 15 years and a fine of at least five times the sum obtained from money laundering or RM5 million, whichever is higher upon conviction.