Umno lawyer granted DNAA, then charged again in lower court
The Kuala Lumpur High Court has granted Umno’s legal adviser Hafarizam Harun a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) over his money laundering charges involving RM15 million.
Deputy public prosecutor Ishak Mohd Yusoff had applied for a DNAA so that they could charge him afresh with additional charges in the Sessions Court...
The Kuala Lumpur High Court has granted Umno’s legal adviser Hafarizam Harun a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) over his money laundering charges involving RM15 million.
Deputy public prosecutor Ishak Mohd Yusoff had applied for a DNAA so that they could charge him afresh with new charges in the Sessions Court.
“This court orders that the accused be discharged not amounting to an acquittal.
“This is to enable the prosecution to file afresh new charges against the accused in the Sessions Court,” High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali ruled today after the DPP made his application.
As such, the defence withdrew their application to recuse the judge, with the liberty to file afresh.
In February last year, Hafarizam (above) claimed trial to two charges of money laundering involving RM15 million. He is alleged to have received the funds from former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak between April 2014 and February 2015.
On the first count, he was alleged to have been directly involved in two transactions involving proceeds from unlawful activities, totalling RM11,500,000.00 in two AmIslamic Bank Berhad cheques belonging to Najib, which were deposited into the account of Messrs Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak (HWAM) at CIMB Bank Berhad.
The offence was allegedly committed at PWTC branch of CIMB Bank at, Suite 1, Level 5, Menara Dato’ Onn, Jalan Tun Ismail, here between April 16, 2014, and Nov 4, 2014.
Hafarizam was also charged with committing a similar offence, involving RM3.5 million through an AmIslamic Bank Berhad cheque belonging to Najib, which was deposited into the account of the same legal firm at CIMB Bank Berhad at the same place on Feb 12, 2015.
These charges were framed under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFPUAA), which provides an imprisonment for up to 15 years and fine of not less than five times the amount of the proceeds from unlawful activities or RM5 million, whichever is higher, if found guilty.
Today, the fresh charges at the Sessions Court before judge Azman Ahmad, appear to have split the previous first charge into two separate charges.
The DPP explained that this is because the previous first charge involved two transactions, one in April 2014 and another in November of the same year.
The relevant act was amended in between the two transactions, which means that the first transaction would be governed under the old law, whereas the second transaction would be governed under the new amendments.
Previously, both transactions were lumped into one charge under the new law.
With the new charges, Hafarizam now faces three counts of money laundering under Amla involving the same RM15 million.
The first charge involves an RM7.5 million AmIslamic Bank Berhad cheque belonging to Najib, which was deposited into the account of Hafarizam’s then law firm on April 17, 2014.
This charge comes under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act (AMLATFA) which provides a fine not more than RM5 million or a jail term not more than five years or both, if convicted.
The second charge involves an RM4 million AmIslamic Bank Berhad cheque belonging to Najib, which was also deposited into the account of Hafarizam’s then law firm on Nov 12, 2014.
This charge comes under Section 4(1)(b) of the AMLATFPUAA, which provides for imprisonment up to 15 years and fine of not less than five times the amount of the proceeds from unlawful activities or RM5 million, whichever is higher, if found guilty.
Finally, the third charge involves an RM3.5 million AmIslamic Bank Berhad cheque belonging to Najib, which was deposited into the account of the same legal firm between Jan 22, 2015 and Feb 12, 2015.
This charge also comes under the same provision of the same act as the second charge.
Hafarizam’s counsel Hasnal Rezua Merican requested for the bail to set at RM200,000, which is a lowered amount from the first bail of RM500,000, due to the Covid-19 pandemic which has caused an economic crisis.
He also pointed out that his client had been diligent in attending all court proceedings involving his case and had even taken a trip to the UK and returned since he was charged one and a half year ago, which means he is not a flight risk.
The DPP had no objections to this, and so the judge agreed to RM200,000 as the bail amount.
Judge Azman also asked for Hafarizam to hand over his passport until the case was resolved.
The RM200,000 bail amount will be transferred from the previous RM500,000 bail which Hafarizam had paid for charges involving the same offences.
The judge said Hafarizam would be required to pay RM5,000 today while the rest would be due by noon tomorrow, though he was made to understand that the court administration could handle the transfers today.
Hasnul Rezua later told reporters that they would consider applying to transfer the case to the High Court.
He added that they would also consider sending in a letter of representation to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC).
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