[UPDATED] Ex-FIC CEO pleads not guilty to two charges over Felda land deal

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd (FIC) chief executive officer Mohd Zaid Abdul Jalil was charged with two counts of cheating the company's board over the proposed commercial development of Felda land in Jalan Semarak here.

The 55-year-old accused, however, pleaded not guilty to all charges when they were read before Sessions Court judge Rosli Ahmad today.

For the first charge, Zaid was accused of misleading the FIC board into believing that Synergy Promenade Sdn Bhd was qualified to be appointed as the project's master developer, when he allegedly knew the company was only qualified to be its master planner.

The alleged deception led the board to approve Synergy Promenade's appointment as the project's master developer.

The offence was allegedly committed at the boardroom of Menara Felda in Platinum Park here on Jan 16, 2014.

For the second charge, Zaid was accused of deceiving the board over the market value of 24 lots of Felda land earmarked for the commercial development.

He allegedly represented that Firdaus & Associates Property Professionals Sdn Bhd had valued the land at RM330.96 million, when the actual amount reported by the firm was RM691.7 million.

Zaid was also accused of representing that the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH) had given an indicative valuation of RM180 million for the land when the department had never provided such a valuation to FIC.

The alleged deception led the board to accept Synergy Promenade's proposed minimum guaranteed return of RM500 million or 10 per cent of the gross development value, whichever was higher.

The offence was allegedly committed at the same location on April 29, 2014.

Both charges were framed under Section 417 of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to five years, a fine or both, upon conviction.

Deputy public prosecutor Radzi Shah Razak asked the court to set bail at RM100,000 for both charges and order Zaid to surrender his passport until the case is disposed of.

Lawyer Shahrullah Khan, who represented Zaid, asked the court to impose minimum bail, saying his client was facing financial difficulties.

"My client has given full cooperation to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) during the investigation.

"He had also served as a prosecution witness in Tan Sri Isa Samad's corruption case involving the company," he said.

Rosli set bail at RM60,000 for all charges and ordered the accused to surrender his passport.