Isa Samad trial: Request to review rejected hotel acquisition deal came from Najib, court told
Wednesday, 16 Oct 20193:31 PM MYT
By HANIS ZAINAL
KUALA LUMPUR: The request to review a rejected proposal to acquire the Merdeka Palace Hotel and Suites in Kuching came from Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the High Court heard on Wednesday (Oct 16).
The court heard that Tan Sri Isa Samad had told former Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd's (FIC) chief executive officer Zaid Abdul Jalil to review the deal, which was a request from the then-prime minister Najib.
This request came after the board of directors of the Felda investment arm had decided not to acquire the hotel from Gegasan Abadi Properties Sdn Bhd during a board meeting on Feb 26,2014.
Zaid, 48, said that Isa, who was the then-Felda and FIC chairman, told him this after the letter to inform Gegasan Abadi Properties of the decision to decline was sent out.
Zaid is the 15th prosecution witness in Isa's criminal breach of trust (CBT) and graft trial.
"As far as I remember, about two weeks after FIC's letter to Gegasan Abadi Properties dated Feb 28,2014, I received a call from Isa and he ordered me to re-evaluate (mengkaji semula) the proposal to purchase the hotel.
"He told me that the then-prime minister had asked for us to re-evaluate the proposal," he said.
Zaid said that the next day, Isa told him to continue with the acquisition of the hotel, on the pretence of helping political activities in Sarawak.
On April 18,2014, Gegasan Abadi Properties sent another letter on the proposal to sell Merdeka Palace Hotel and Suites to FIC, the court then heard.
He said that the letter was addressed to Isa in his capacity as FIC chairman and was dated March 28,2014.
Zaid said that he then informed Isa of the offer by Gegasan Abadi Properties, and was told to table the proposal at the next board of directors' meeting.
In the letter, the Gegasan Abadi Properties offered to sell the hotel at RM165mil, he added.
Earlier, the court heard that Isa had first asked Zaid to study the purchase of Merdeka Palace Hotel and Suites between September and October 2013.
On Dec 14,2018, Isa, 70, claimed trial to one count of criminal breach of trust by approving the purchase of the hotel without the approval of the Felda board of directors on April 29,2014.
The offence under Section 409 of the Penal Code carries a jail term of between two and 20 years, whipping and a possible fine upon conviction.
Isa was also charged with nine counts of dishonestly receiving gratification for himself in cash totalling RM3,090,000 from Gegasan Abadi Properties director Ikhwan Zaidel for helping to approve the hotel's purchase by FIC at an allegedly inflated price of RM160mil.
The charges were made under Section 16a(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, punishable under Section 24(1) of the same law, which provides a jail term of not exceeding 20 years and a fine of at least five times the bribe amount, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
The trial continues before Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali in the afternoon.
Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/10/16/isa-samad-trial-request-to-review-rejected-hotel-acquisition-deal-came-from-najib-court-told#LFJvLsKJCEfmDJBi.99
