KUALA LUMPUR: National Feedlot Corp Sdn Bhd (NFCorp) chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh Ismail (pic) failed for the second time yesterday to strike out his two criminal breach of trust charges.

High Court Judge Datuk Azman Husin, in dismissing the appeal, said the charges against Salleh are not defective and a trial must be held as there are issues to be ventilated.

“The appellant has not been denied a fair trial,” Azman said, adding that the Sessions Court judge was correct to dismiss the application to strike out the charges.

Salleh’s counsel Al-Firdaus Shahrul then applied for the trial, scheduled on March 9, to be adjourned as his client will be appealing to the Court of Appeal.

Azman allowed the application. Deputy Public Prosecutor Syed Faizal Syed Amir did not object.

Salleh, the husband of Umno Wanita chief Datuk Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, and their children have been in the limelight since the National Feedlot Centre scandal was exposed following the auditor-general’s annual report.

He was charged in the Sessions Court in March last year with criminal breach of trust (CBT) and violating the Companies Act in relation to RM49 million in federal funds given to the NFC. He pleaded not guilty to the CBT charges as well as two counts under the Companies Act.

Salleh, 64, was charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code with misappropriating RM9,758,140 from NFCorp’s funds to purchase two condominium units at the One Menerung complex in Bangsar, for the National Meat and Livestock Corp (NMLC) on Dec 1 and Dec 4, 2009.

He was also charged with transferring RM40 million of NFCorp’s funds to the NMLC between May 6 and Nov 16, 2009.

He was further charged in both cases with using the said funds without approval from the company’s annual general meeting, which is an offence under Section 132 of the Companies Act 1965.

If found guilty, he faces between two and 20 years’ imprisonment, whipping, and a fine for the offences under the Penal Code.

Salleh also faces a five-year jail term or RM30,000 fine for the charges framed under the Companies Act. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 27, 2015.