By Anisah Shukry
KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 — The Sessions Court today postponed the mention date of Datuk Shamsubahrin’s Ismail’s trial for allegedly defrauding the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) to June 12.
The 45-year-old businessman was charged last December with cheating NFCorp chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh Ismail of RM1.76 million in fraudulent consultancy fees.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Abdul Razak Musa asked today that the case be postponed to June as he needed more time to look through the documents.
He also said there were complications involving the recent amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).
The DPP said he was unsure if the amendments, passed by the Dewan Negara earlier this month and effective June 1, would apply to this case.
Trial judge Rozilah Salleh told Abdul Razak to get the relevant information from the Attorney-General.
She also said the hearing will start on July 16 as scheduled, regardless of any amendments to the CPC.
Shamsubahrin was represented by lawyers Zarina Ismail and Rafiq Rahim.
Mohamad Salleh is at the centre of a scandal involving the alleged abuse of RM250 million in government loans. He is husband to former federal minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who left the Cabinet after her second term as senator ended on April 8.
Mohamad Salleh was charged in March with criminal breach of trust and violating the Companies Act after he allegedly misused RM49 million in public funds meant for the National Feedlot Centre cattle-farming scheme.
NFCorp hit the national headlines after it made it into the Auditor-General’s Report last year for missing production targets.
