AGC says Umno’s Azeez fully acquitted as no new supporting evidence unearthed
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 — The Attorney General’s Chambers said it did not contest Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim’s application for a full acquittal of his corruption charges as further investigation did not produce evidence conducive to further prosecution.
It said the decision was made after renewed investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on six statutory declarations from the primary prosecution witnesses turned out fruitless.
“After the investigation paper was reviewed, the AGC agreed to discontinue the prosecution against Azeez Rahim and not object to his application for a discharge and acquittal today,” it said in a statement.
The AGC explained that the six SDs were part of a series representations Azeez’s lawyers made in March, which had necessitated a fresh and thorough investigation by the MACC.
The AGC had applied for a conditional discharge of the former Lembaga Tabung Haji chairman in September pending the outcome of this investigation, which he applied to contest on Dec 1, resulting in his full acquittal today.
In 2020, the Umno politician was charged with three counts of accepting RM5.2 million in bribes and six counts of money laundering related to road projects in Perak and Kedah.
He was charged under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 and would have been liable to a maximum 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of not less than five times the bribe amount for each of the corruption charges upon conviction.
The money-laundering against him were proffered under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorist Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, which were each punishable by up to seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to five times the value of the sum involved.
