KUALA LUMPUR (June 8): The Sessions Court has discharged and acquitted the nephew of former Sungai Buloh parliamentarian Sivarasa Rasiah and an ex-employee of corruption charges.

Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi made the decision on Thursday (June 8) after the prosecution said that the letter of representation to the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC), sent by both Naveen Kularasa Rasiah and Nico Kam to drop all three charges, was accepted.

However, deputy public prosecutor Noralis Mat Rasyidah Azmi Kala asked for the court to give a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA), in which the duo could face charges for the similar offence in future.

Ramesh Sivakumar, representing Kam, argued for the duo to be given a discharge and acquittal because the matter has been prolonged for sometime.

He said that the complaint over the case was received in 2017 and the duo were charged in 2022. Therefore, he added that it was unreasonable to have a future charge hanging over them, should the prosecution change their minds.

“This matter should be brought to finality once and for all,” he said.

Kam was also represented by Calvin Lim Sin Guan, while M Puravalen represented Naveen.

It was reported that the duo were charged in January last year with three counts of soliciting RM55,000 and accepting bribes amounting to RM65,000 from a Bangladeshi businessman who was alleged to have brought in migrant workers by misusing professional credentials for the admission of foreign workers by a company.

If found guilty, for each charge, they face imprisonment of not more than 20 years and a fine of not more than five times the amount of the bribes, or a fine of RM10,000, whichever is the higher.

Responding to the charges, Sivarasa said that his employees were investigated for events that transpired in 2017, and maintained that the allegations were baseless.

Sivarasa also said that it was an “act of reprisal” for raising Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Tan Sri Azam Baki’s share-ownership issue in Parliament in December 2021.

Azam, who was embroiled in a proxy stock trading scandal, told a press conference in January last year that his share trading account had been used by his younger brother to purchase shares in 2015, following allegations that the MACC chief had interests and shareholdings in several companies.

Following that, the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) said it would conduct an inquiry into the matter.

On Jan 18, the SC said it could not conclusively establish if Azam had breached Section 25(4) of the Securities Industry (Central Depositories) Act 1991 (SICDA), which provides that a trading account must be opened in the name of the beneficial owner or authorised nominee.

A day later, the SC clarified that it had decided that Azam had not breached the said Section 25(4) of SICDA, saying the evidence it gathered showed that Azam was the named account holder and had control of his share trading account.

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