Wan Saiful gets court nod for bank statements in Jana Wibawa trial

New Straits Times

5 hours ago

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Bersatu information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan has been granted access to three bank statements to support his defence in the corruption trial involving the Jana Wibawa project.
Sessions Court judge Rosli Ahmad allowed the application, ruling that the documents were not privileged and should be disclosed to the defence.
Wan Saiful filed the application by naming the public prosecutor, Maybank Taman Tun Dr Ismail branch executive Raja Muhammad Aiman Raja Sa'adi—who is also the 15th prosecution witness—and Maybank Islamic Bhd as respondents.
Wan Saiful is seeking a court order compelling all three respondents to provide three Maybank account statements belonging to Nepturis Sdn Bhd from January 2021 to December 2023, in physical or digital form.
"This court finds that the three bank statements are not privileged documents, and Maybank should provide those documents to the defence.
"If this application is allowed, it will facilitate the cross-examination of the prosecution witness.
"If the application is not allowed and is only granted at a later stage, it would require a fresh application to recall Raja Muhammad Aiman. This would clearly delay the trial process and waste the time of all parties involved.
"It is also in the interest of the first respondent, as the prosecution, to ease the disclosure of documents that favour the applicant," he said in his ground of judgment dated May 29.
The court said the respondents also have a duty to disclose documents favourable to the defence under Section 51 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
"In this case, the applicant is charged with soliciting a bribe from Lian Tan Chuan in return for helping Nepturis Sdn Bhd secure the Central Spine Road project: Sertik to the East Coast Expressway Interchange, valued at RM232,000,000 from the government.
"The applicant is also accused of receiving RM6,962,694.54, which was transferred from Nepturis Sdn Bhd's Maybank Islamic account to a CIMB Bank account belonging to WSA Advisory Group Sdn Bhd, as a reward for assisting the company in obtaining the letter of award for the project.
"The documents requested have the potential to prove the falsity of the charges against the applicant.
"This court agrees with the applicant's argument that these documents are important as they will provide a more comprehensive picture of the case," the court said, adding that the respondents would not be prejudiced if the application is allowed.
In his supporting affidavit, Wan Saiful said Wan Muhammad Aiman when testifying on Sept 19 and 20, last year, had been referred to and verified several documents, including Nepturis's Maybank account statements.
However, the defence was only furnished with bank statements covering the period of July to December 2022 and January to June 2023.
The prosecution opposed the application, contending that the three Nepturis's bank statements requested by the Wan Saiful were not essential to the defence.