Kota Kinabalu: A Sessions Court judge here reprimanded a defence counsel who sought to postpone a corruption case hearing on the grounds that the lawyer involved intended to contest in the coming 17th Sabah Election.
Judge Elsie Primus issued the stern reminder when another counsel, appearing on behalf of the would-be election candidate, requested that the hearing be deferred.
“This case is from 2023 and I believe all the documents have already been served... Don’t tell lies in court.
“So, if she wants to be a candidate in PRN17, we have to wait for the election results first and continue with this case? I will not postpone this case. Please convey my message to her. And if she wins, just write in to the court,” Judge Elsie said during proceedings held via Zoom.
The court subsequently fixed the hearing for Dec 1–3 this year.
The counsel in question is representing Bakruni Juani, a company owner charged with two counts of submitting false claims amounting to RM556,900 under the Penjana Kerjaya 1.0 and 2.0 programmes.
Bakruni allegedly submitted the names of 99 employees of Aquamiste Legacy to the Social Security Organisation (Perkeso) under the incentive schemes, with the intention to deceive and mislead the agency.
Investigations later revealed that some of the individuals listed were not actual employees of the company.
He was released on bail.
