FORMER Felda chairman Mohd Isa Abdul Samad will face trial on October 7 for nine counts of receiving bribes amounting to RM3.09 million and one count of criminal breach of trust (CBT) in relation to the purchase of a hotel in Kuching.

The trial will run from October 7 to 9, and from October 14 to 25. Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali fixed 13 days for the trial.

May 13 has been fixed for case management.

Today, the court read out the 10 charges to Isa, to which he again plead not guilty and claimed trial to the charges.

The former Umno vice-president was represented by lawyers Ridha Abah Subri and Lavinia Kumaraendran.

Isa, 70, allegedly committed CBT by approving the purchase of Merdeka Palace & Suites Hotel without the approval from 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.

He was also charged with receiving bribes on nine occasions totalling RM3.09 million from Gagasan Abadi Properties Sdn Bhd director Ikhwan Zaidel between July 2014 and December 2015.

He allegedly committed the offences at level 49, Menara Felda, Platinum Park, No. 11, Persiaran KLCC in Kuala Lumpur.

The charges under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act carries a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the bribe for each charge, if found guilty. – April 11, 2019.