The trial of 2 court officers began yesterday in the High Court of Bandar Seri Begawan before the Honourable Justice Gareth John Lugar-Mawson. Ramzidah binti Pehin Datu Kesuma Diraja Colonel Retired Hj Abdul Rahman and Hj Nabil Daraina bin Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Hj Awg Badaruddin, pleaded not guilty to 40 new charges for offences of criminal breach of trust by a public servant under Section 409 of the Penal Code, Chapter 22; money laundering under Section 3 of the Criminal Asset Recovery Order 2012; and possession of unexplained property under Section 12(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Chapter 131.

Initially, Ramzidah was charged with 146 charges of criminal breach of trust under section 409 of the Penal Code in respect of 7 million dollars from 41 debtor accounts in bankruptcy cases. In her role as the Deputy Official Receiver, the Prosecution now alleges that between 2004 until 2017, Ramzidah made a total of 15 point 75 million dollars cash withdrawals from 255 Judgment Debtors' Official Receiver's accounts held at Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD). It is the Prosecution's case that she had no legitimate reason for making such cash withdrawals.

The Prosecution further alleged that both the Defendants, dealt with the cash obtained from the criminal breach of trust by making substantial cash deposits in their local joint accounts at the Standard Chartered Bank, spending some of the cash on luxury items such as motor vehicles, and transferring some of the deposited money from their Standard Chartered Bank accounts to their accounts in the United Kingdom. The charges for depositing money into the joint accounts and for the purchasing of vehicles involved payments using 10 thousand dollars denomination notes which are alleged to have been obtained from the withdrawals made by Ramzidah from BIBD.

Ramzidah is alleged to have in her possession 6 luxury cars valued at 1 point 28 million dollars whereas Hj Nabil is alleged to have in his possession 14 luxury cars valued at 1 point 8 million dollars - all of which are disproportionate to their emoluments. Both Defendants also face charges for being in possession of designer goods such as handbags worth 429 thousand dollars and watches worth 152 thousand dollars.

The Honourable Justice Gareth John Lugar-Mawson had earlier granted an application made by the Prosecution for the defendants to be discharged not amounting to acquittal, in relation to earlier charges that had been brought against both defendants as they intend only to proceed with the new charges.

Mr Simon Farrell, QC, and Sheikh Noordin Sheikh Mohammad, appearing for the defendants, applied for the presiding judge, Justice Gareth John Lugar-Mawson to recuse himself from hearing the trial on the grounds that there is a risk of a possibility of judicial bias, whether consciously or subconsciously, as Justice Gareth John Lugar-Mawson has known D1 for about 10 years, and has close contacts with 3 of the witnesses to be called by the Prosecution during trial. Given these relationships, it was submitted that a fair-minded observer would conclude that the judge would be biased.

Mr Jonathan Caplan, QC, appearing for the Public Prosecutor, opposed the application, submitting that the Defence Counsel's application is misconceived. These 3 witnesses to be called by the Prosecution, would be giving evidence on the procedures in practice when dealing with bankruptcy files. The real issue at trial is whether or not Ramzidah made cash withdrawals and if so, what she did with those cash withdrawals. These are not issues which would be addressed by these 3 Prosecution witnesses. Further, the Prosecution submitted it is inevitable that sitting as a Judge here in the High Court of Brunei Darussalam, that Justice Gareth John Lugar-Mawson would professionally meet other judicial officers including the Defendants and the 3 prosecution witnesses who are from the Bankruptcy Unit of the High Court.

Mr Jonathan Caplan, QC, stated seeing that this is a case involves two Judges on trial for criminal offences, some of their judicial colleagues will inevitably be relevant witnesses particularly with regards to the charges faced by Ramzidah, as the offences also concern the discharge of her professional duties. Furthermore, it was emphasized that Justice Gareth John Lugar-Mawson is not a permanent Judge in Brunei Darussalam and only visits occasionally to sit as an independent Judge in this jurisdiction. There is nothing that could give rise to a reasonable man believing that there is a real possibility of bias.

Justice Gareth John Lugar-Mawson ruled that he did not need to recuse himself from hearing the matter and that he was satisfied that there would be no judicial bias, as the only relationship he had with Ramzidah and the 3 Prosecution Witnesses, were of a professional nature. Mr Simon Farrell, QC applied for the matter to be adjourned until next week for the purpose of case management. The trial will resume again on Tuesday, the 12th of this month at 9 in the morning.

Source:
@BRUDIRECT.COM

by BruDirect

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