SHAH ALAM: A former accountant of GISB Holdings Sdn Bhd pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court here on Tuesday (Sept 9) to nine charges of money laundering involving RM3.89mil.
Hamimah Yakub, 73, claimed trial after all the charges were read out to her before Judge Awang Kerisnada Awang Mahmud.
She was charged with receiving RM3,618,527.86 from unlawful activities through five transactions, including from her personal bank account, a supermarket’s bank account and a company’s account.
Hamimah was also charged with transferring RM271,863.62 derived from unlawful activities in four transactions, including to the account of GISB Mart Sdn Bhd, her personal account and GISB’s bank account.
All the offences were allegedly committed at bank branches in Selangor and Kedah between Jan 5, 2020 and Jan 29, 2021.
The charges were framed under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, punishable under Section 4(1) of the same Act, which provide for a maximum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of not less than five times the amount of the proceeds or the value of the illicit activity, or RM5mil, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Izham Mohd Marzuki proposed bail of RM1mil, but Hamimah’s lawyer Datuk Rosli Kamaruddin requested it be set at RM5,000 or for the court to adopt the existing bail already imposed on his client, who is also facing charges under Section 130V(1) of the Penal Code.
The court granted interim bail of RM5,000, noting that a higher amount would complicate documentation and lead to her detention.
“When this note (decision) was made at 3.17pm, and considering that the counter closes at 4pm, the court will allow interim bail until a final amount is determined.
“Furthermore, the prosecution has informed that Hamimah will be facing 60 more charges tomorrow, and the full bail process will be carried out then,” he said.
On Wednesday (Sept 10), the same court is also expected to hear a number of money laundering charges involving three other accused, including GISB chief executive officer Nasiruddin Mohd Ali.- Bernama
