Kuala lumpur: The Sessions Court was informed today that former Perlis Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Azlan Man, requested refunds from two travel agents for payments made towards his family's overseas holidays between 2013 and 2017, as he intended to plan the trips himself.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Azlan's former senior private secretary, Herwardy Hashim, testified that Azlan directed him to have Sri Kedawang Travel and Tours refund the payments to his personal account and for Aidil Travel and Tour to deposit cash into the same account. Herwardy elaborated that the agents required confirmation of logistics and had asked him to secure exact holiday dates and collect supporting documents, including passports, from Azlan to proceed with booking flights, hotels, and transport for the London trips.
Herwardy stated, "However, the MB then instructed me to inform them that he would manage the London family holiday himself and to request that they refund the money. I could not confirm if he had taken a particular trip or not; I only managed the approval of leave and use of his overseas leave entitlement," as he read his statement in the trial of Azlan, who is facing ten charges of submitting false claims and receiving proceeds from unlawful activities.
The key prosecution witness indicated that he was responsible for managing travel documentation to enable the MB to use the privileges granted under relevant regulations, particularly Section 27 concerning overseas leave from the Members of the Administration and Members of the Legislative Assembly (Remuneration) Enactment 1980, Enactment No. 3 of 1981.
Herwardy mentioned that Azlan had suggested Sri Kedawang because of his positive experiences with their service while at Wisma Putra. He explained, "The owner of Aidil Travel and Tours is Abdul Rahim Halim, who was previously a partner of Shafiei Ismail in Sri Kedawang Travel and Tours. I understand they are no longer partners. Abdul Rahim established Aidil Travel and Tours, while Shafiei is no longer involved in the tourism sector. Since I had dealt with Abdul Rahim previously, the overseas trip arrangements continued smoothly despite the change."
Azlan, 67, is facing five charges related to submitting false claims for overseas holidays totaling over RM1.18 million. These offences are alleged to have been committed at the Office of the State Secretary of Perlis between December 2013 and December 2017. The claims involved flight ticket quotations to London and invoices from Sri Kedawang Travel and Tour (W) Sdn Bhd and Aidil Travel and Tours Sdn Bhd.
He is charged under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, which could result in up to 20 years imprisonment and a fine of five times the sum or value of the false particulars, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
Additionally, Azlan faces five charges of receiving proceeds from unlawful activities amounting to RM1.06 million under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001. These offences allegedly occurred between February 19, 2014, and December 2017 at various locations including a Maybank branch on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, a CIMB Bank branch in Putrajaya, and the Sheraton Imperial Hotel.
He is further charged with five alternative counts of criminal breach of trust under Section 403 of the Penal Code for allegedly misappropriating RM1.06 million in Perlis state funds, which is punishable by six months to five years imprisonment, and may also involve caning and a fine, upon conviction. These offences are alleged to have been committed at the Maybank branch on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, the CIMB Bank Putrajaya Branch, and the Sheraton Imperial Hotel between February 2014 and December 2017.
The trial before Judge Azura Alwi is set to resume on January 21, next year.