KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 28 — The High Court here has dismissed an application by former senior political secretary to the prime minister Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin to transfer five corruption charges from the Sessions Court to the High Court.
Justice Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin, in dismissing the application today, held that the applicant had not met the requirements under Section 417 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
“As the law is settled on this issue, I see no reason to depart from established judicial precedents, some of which are binding. Accordingly, the application is dismissed,” she said.
Deputy public prosecutor Farah Ezlin Yusop Khan appeared for the prosecution, while counsel Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad represented Shamsul Iskandar.
In the application filed on February 4, Shamsul Iskandar contended that the cases involved constitutional questions and complex issues of law, including matters relating to the Federal Constitution, adding that the transfer would not prejudice any party and would facilitate the proper determination of the issues raised.
On December 4, 2025, Shamsul Iskandar was charged at the Sessions Court here with agreeing to accept RM100,000 in cash from businessman Albert Tei Jiann Cheing, 37, as an inducement to help Tei’s companies obtain mineral exploration licences in Sabah, although the matter was not related to his official duties.
He also faces a charge of accepting RM40,000 in cash from the same individual for the same purpose, as well as two counts of receiving bribes in the form of furniture and electrical appliances valued at RM14,580 and RM22,249 respectively.
The offences were allegedly committed at premises in Jalan Medang Serai, Bukit Bandaraya, at a hotel car park in Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin here, and at Jalan P14a 1/1, Precinct 14, Putrajaya, between December 7, 2023 and January 31, 2024, as well as between November 24, 2023 and March 5, 2024.
On December 5 the same year, he was also charged at the Shah Alam Sessions Court with one count of corruptly obtaining RM62,924 from Tei at a bank in Country Heights, Kajang between November 28, 2023 and September 23, 2024.
The sum was allegedly deposited into a woman’s bank account for the rental of a house in Kuala Lumpur, as an inducement to assist Tei’s companies in securing mineral exploration licences in Sabah.
All charges were framed under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 (Act 694) and are punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act, which provides for a maximum imprisonment of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount or value of the gratification, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
