Umno leader: I’m not guilty..from Labuan F.T.

Tuesday April 14, 2009

Umno leader: I’m not guilty

By MUGUNTAN VANAR

KOTA KINABALU: Former Labuan MP Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman has pleaded not guilty to a charge of cheating over a loan facility for his company 13 years ago.

The 48-year-old Labuan Umno chairman was charged with cheating a Malayan Bank Berhad branch manager Ismail Jantan by providing an identity card (with the number H0552181 in the name of Ahmad Suhaily Abdul Rahman) to obtain a RM160,000 loan and overdraft facility to buy an apartment unit at the Api Api Centre by acting as guarantor for his (Suhaili’s) company Syarikat Saraequity Sdn Bhd between April 3 and 11, 1996.

Charged: Suhaili (right) leaving the Sessions Court with his lawyer Rakbhir Singh yesterday after he was charged with cheating a Malayan Bank Berhad branch manager in 1996.

Suhaili, who looked calm and composed, entered his not guilty plea yesterday before Sessions Judge Caroline Bee Majanil to the charge under Section 420 of the Penal Code that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment (including a mandatory one-year jail term), rotan and fine.

Judge Majanil fixed Feb 8 to 13 next year to hear the case and granted Suhaili bail of RM30,000 with RM3,000 held with one surety.

The politician is expected to face another charge in a magistrate’s court here today under Section 199 of the Penal Code for allegedly making a false statement in a declaration.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Com-mission Deputy Public Prosecutor Kelvin Mo-rais, who was assisted by Joyce Blasius, told the court that they would produce 30 witnesses.

Suhaili was represented by Rakbhir Singh.

Suhaili, whose term as Labuan Corporation chairman ended on March 31, told reporters outside the court that he believed that the charges were politically motivated.

The politician, who was dropped in the 2008 general election and replaced by Yusuf Mahal for the Labuan seat, said that in his nine years as Labuan MP, he had served the islanders well.

Suhaili has been in the news for various reasons in recent years including his wife’s botched liposuction surgery that led to her death on Oct 28 last year.