THE Kuala Lumpur High court today granted the request of Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin and his wife, Zizie Izette Abdul Samad to stay their RM2.8 million corruption trial, pending the disposal of their application to review the sessions court’s order directing them to enter their defence.

Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah granted the order after deputy public prosecutor Faridz Gohim Abdullah said the prosecution did not object to the couple’s bid to suspend trial.

Earlier this month, Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court ordered Bung and Zizie to enter their defence against corruption charges involving RM2.8 million in connection with Felcra’s Public Mutual unit trust investments.

The couple filed a motion to the High Court to review the order directing them to enter their defence.

The couple claimed that two key prosecution witnesses, Public Mutual Bhd unit trust consultants Madhi Abdul Hamid and Norhaili Ahmad Mokhtar, were treated as hostile witnesses, and that this was contradictory to the findings of by the sessions court.

Sessions court judge Rozina Ayob had acknowledged on September 2 that she was aware and cautious of the fact that Madhi and Norhaili had given statements to MACC that contradicted their testimonies in court.

“After due consideration, I accepted other parts of the evidence given by them,” she said, adding that the court also took into consideration the testimonies of other witnesses.

On May 3, 2019, Bung, 64, was charged with two counts of receiving RM2.8 million in bribes to approve Felcra’s application to invest RM150 million in Public Mutual unit trust funds.

Bung is accused of receiving the money from Madhi, through Zizie, at Public Bank’s Taman Melawati branch on June 12, 2015.

He is also accused of receiving some of the cash from Norhaili in Zizie’s name on June 19, 2015.

Zizie, 44, faces three charges of abetting her husband.

Thirty witnesses were called to give evidence during the trial, which began in January 2020. – September 23, 2022.