Fourth Individual Related to JANS Scandal Charged
A former Deputy Director of the Jabatan Air Negeri Sabah (JANS) that was investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission was charged at the Kota Kinabalu Special Corruption Sessions Court today for an illegal money laundering offence by abusing his power.
Teo Chee Kong, 52, pleaded not guilty for 146 charges against him that is related to a RM32.923 million illegal money laundering offence.
Based on the charges, the accused allegedly accepted bribes from contractors that were given JANS maintenance projects from 2010 until 2016.
On 29 December 2016, former Director of JANS, Ag Mohd Tahir Mohd Talib, 54, together with his wife, Fauziah Piut, 51, and former Deputy Director of JANS, Lim Lam Beng, 62, were prosecuted at the Kota Kinabalu Corruption Crime Special Court, Sabah and pleaded not guilty for all charges against them.
Teo Chee Keong was charged with 146 charges which the 78 charges were under 4(1)(a) Anti-Money Laundering, Anti- Terrorism Financing and Proceeds (AMLATFA) Act 2001 which the accused allegedly owned 70 land area obtained from illegal activities through 78 transactions of ownership transfer worth almost RM12 million.
Meanwhile, the accused was also charged with 68 charges under Section 4(1)(b) Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities (AMLATFPUAA) Act 2001 for six offences of possessing funds obtained from illegal activities worth nearly RM8 million while 62 other offences of possessing funds in bank accounts obtained from illegal activities in eight financial institutions worth at an estimated of RM12.3 million.
The Kota Kinabalu Special Corruption Sessions Court Judge, Nixon Kennedy Kimbong, has set a RM1.5 million bail with a deposit of RM500,000 and two local sureties against the accused.
The accused also required to report at the MACC Kota Kinabalu Office every Saturday.
For MACC, the case was handled by Assistant Public Prosecutor, Tengku Amir Zaki Tengku Abdul Rahman and Mohd Farez Rahman.
Currently, the amount of funds that were seized during the investigation involving the JANS’ embezzlement projects are RM189.2 million. The following is the breakdown of the total forfeiture that was conducted:
Ag Mohd Tahir Mohd Talib - RM 49.7 million
Fauziah Piut - RM 2.22 million
Lim Lam Beng - RM 2.38 million
Teoh Chee Kong - RM32.9 million
JANS Division / District Engineer - RM19.9 million
Recently, the investigation team with cooperation from enforcement agencies from various countries has frozen multiple overseas accounts belonging to Teo Chee Kong.
The accused’s overseas account worth at least RM82 million was seized to assist the MACC investigation and currently in the process of returning the funds to Malaysia for the purpose of forfeiture through a Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA).
On 7 December 2017, the Kota Kinabalu High Court Judge, Datuk Nurcahaya Arshad issued a ruling to forfeit RM19.97 million in funds from the total amount of funds and bank accounts that were confiscated in the JANS operation starting from October 2016 and was returned to the Malaysian Government.
THE MALAYSIAN ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION
PUTRAJAYA
13 DECEMBER 2017
