A FORMER personal adviser to well-known entrepreneur Dr Che Rozmey Che Din today pleaded not guilty to 13 charges of laundering money amounting to RM113,000.

Abdullah Sani Ismail, 65, made the plea after all the charges were read out to him before Judge Juraidah Abbas at the Alor Star Sessions Court today.

Abdullah is accused of disposing of RM70,500 through seven cheques at the Teluk Wan Jah branch of CIMB Bank in Alor Star.

The offences were allegedly conducted in 2014, 2015 and 2016 via an account belonging to one AS Utama Consultant.

He is also charged with using the illegal proceeds from the same account to purchase several items.

He is alleged to have also transferred the illegal proceeds from the same current account to a Bank Islam savings account belonging to Nur Azhani Abdullah Sani, to a CIMB savings account owned by Shareez Sani Abdullah, a CIMB savings account belonging to Masitoh Halim, a Maybank account under the name Jawahar Hussain Habeeb Rahuman.

If convicted, the accused could be jailed for a maximum 15 year or fined no less than five times the amount of the proceeds from the illegal activities or RM5 million, whichever is higher, for each offence.

Judge Juraidah allowed Abdullah bail at RM30,000 with one surety, but he would only be allowed to claim bail after serving the eight-month jail sentence he faced for other cases in connection to breach of trust.

Syafinas Shabudin was the deputy public prosecutor on the case  while the accused was represented by counsel Badrol Hisham Abdullah. 

The judge set August 30 for the next court appearance. – Bernama, July 26, 2019.