KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 — The Sessions Court today dismissed an application by a company director to strike out a corruption charge filed against him for offering a bribe of RM500,000 a year for 15 years to Tan Sri Annuar Musa in connection with the takeover of the KL Tower concession.

Judge Suzana Hussin dismissed the application by Hydroshoppe Sdn Bhd director Datuk Abdul Hamid Shaikh Abdul Razak Shaikh, 49, after hearing the submission by both parties.

Abdul Hamid Shaikh filed the application last May 31 on the grounds that the charge against him under Section 16 (b)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 was flawed and unfounded because it did not state the important details, namely the specific date for the alleged offence.

Earlier, lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad, representing the accused, told the court that his client wanted to apply for a temporary release of his passport to go to the United Kingdom to send his son, who is pursuing studies there, and also to the United States for business purposes.

"He needs to be in the UK on September 12 and for business purposes in the United States on October 1. If the application is allowed, I request that my client’s presence be excluded on the next mention date,” he added.

Deputy public prosecutor from MACC, Mahadi Abdul Jumaat, said the defence would have to file a notice of application and a supporting affidavit to support the application for the purpose.

"We need to check the date and reason for the application before making a decision to protest or not because of the long period abroad,” he said.

The court then ordered Abdul Hamid Shaikh to file the application and fixed September 12 for mention.

Abdul Hamid Shaikh was charged on April 5 this year with offering a bribe of RM500,000 a year for 15 years for the benefit of Tan Sri Annuar Musa in connection with the takeover of KL Tower concession.

He was alleged to have offered the bribe through Datuk Tan Ser Lay, 60, as an inducement for the then Communications and Multimedia Minister to expedite the takeover process of KL Tower concession by the company.

The offence was allegedly committed at the Communications and Multimedia Ministry in Putrajaya between July and August 2022. — Bernama