JOHOR BARU: A former government-linked company president and chief executive officer has claimed trial at the Session Court here for allegedly cheating the board members of the company on an investment involving some RM9.47mil.

The accused, Datuk Kamaruzzaman Abu Kassim, 58, pleaded not guilty when the charge was read in front of judge Wan Mohd Norisham Wan Yaakob at the Sessions Court here on Tuesday (March 22).

According to the charge sheets, Kamaruzzaman was accused of deceiving the board members of Johor Corporation (JCorp) by not informing them the situation of a company, World Logistic Council Limited, which could no longer continue its operations.

It added that this had encouraged the board members to agree with his proposal and approved a US$5mil (RM21mil) temporary fund where US$1mil (RM4.21mil) from the fund were later used to invest in World Logistic Council Limited, while another USD$1.25mil (RM5.26mil) were invested to World Logistic Council Americas LLC.

He was accused of committing the offence on July 8, 2019, at a board of directors meeting room in Menara Komtar Johor Baru between 9.30am and 1.45pm.

Kamaruzzaman, who was JCorp's president and chief executive officer between 2010 and 2019, was represented by lawyer K. Ragunath, while the case was handled by Malaysian-Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy public prosecutor Zander Lim Wai Keong.

The charges were framed under Section 420 of the Penal Code and if found guilty, the accused faces imprisonment between a year and 10 years, whipping and can be fined if convicted.

Judge Wan Mohd Norisham set bail at RM150,000 with one surety while the next mention of the case was set for May 25.

He also set additional conditions for the accused where he is required to surrender his passport, report to the nearest MACC office once a month and not communicate with the witnesses involved in the case.

However, his lawyer requested that the handover of the passport be done at a later date as the accused and his wife would be attending the haj pilgrimage between April 7 and April 18.

The judge approved the request and allowed the passport to be handed over to the court latest by April 23.