Director of Hydroshoppe failed in his initial objection application to overturn accusations of offering a RM7.5 million bribe

 Company's director fails to drop charges of corruption of RM7.5m for the benefit of Annuar Musa

Director of Hydroshoppe Sdn Bhd, Datuk Abdul Hamid Shaikh Abdul Razak Shaikh. 

KUALA LUMPUR: A company director today failed in his initial objection application to overturn accusations of offering a RM7.5 million bribe to a businessman for the benefit of former Communications and Multimedia Minister, Tan Sri Annuar Musa.

Sessions Court Judge, Suzana Hussin, rejected the application after examining the arguments of the prosecution and the defense of the Director of Hydroshoppe Sdn Bhd, Datuk Abdul Hamid Shaikh Abdul Razak Shaikh, 49.

"The next mention of the case is set for September 12 for the submission of documents, the bail for the accused will be extended," he said.

The notice of objection was filed on May 31, by Messrs. Chetan Jethwani and Company representing Abdul Hamid Shaikh, 49, on the grounds that the charge was baseless and flawed, in addition to being an essential element of an offense under Section 16(b)(B) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act Malaysia (MACC) 2009 not specified.

On April 5, Abdul Hamid Shaikh and Hydroshoppe Sdn Bhd were charged in two separate Sessions Courts on two charges including offering a bribe of RM500,000 a year for 15 years to Datuk Tan Ser Lay, 60.

It is for the benefit of Annuar, aiming to speed up the process of acquiring the management and administration of the Menara Kuala Lumpur (Menara KL) concession.

Meanwhile, the accused's defense lawyer, Amer Hamzah Arshad, said the client wanted to apply for a temporary passport to travel to the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US).

"The client wants to temporarily apply for his passport to send his child to the UK on September 12 to further his education, in addition to having business in the US on October 1.

"If the application to obtain a passport is allowed, I request that the client's presence be excluded on the next appointment date," he said.

Following that, the Deputy Public Prosecutor, Mahadi Abdul Jumaat, informed that at this time he could not confirm whether he objected or otherwise to the application.

"The defense has to file a notice of application and a supporting affidavit regarding the release of the passport.

"Before making a decision to object to the application, we need to carefully examine the reasons and date for the passport release because it involves a rather long period," he said.