SHOW YOUR FACE IF YOU DARE, Deepak tells Raja Ropiaah: Land scam trial begins Thurs

Politically-connected businessman Deepak Jaikishan will take the witness stand on Thursday when the Kuala Lumpur High Court begins hearing the lawsuit filed by his firm Astacanggih Sdn Bhd against Selangor Wanita Umno chief Raja Ropiaah Raja Abdullah.

"I believe I am the person who can best explain the whole matter to the court. I believe our courts are fair but because the timing is such, there might be political interference and this should not be the case because there is incriminating evidence," Deepak told a press conference on Wednesday.

The case promises to be the among the most sensational corruption trials involving Umno bigwigs this year and comes hot on the heels of RM250mil NFC corruption debacle, which culminated in the husband of Wanita chief Shahrizat Jalil being charged for criminal breach of trust.

Apart from suing Raja Ropiaah and her firm Awan Megah (M) Sdn Bhd for specific performance and "criminal intent", Deepak is also suing the Ministry of Defense, the land and mining office Pejabat Tanah dan Galian for not releasing the land titles to nominee firm Cebur Megah (M) Sdn Bhd.

Show your face if you dare

Deepak also challenged Ropiaah to appear in court. The trial will begin at 9am at the Jalan Duta court complex.

"If she is innocent and interested to clear her name, she should not wait to be subpoenaed. Come to the court tomorrow if she dares," said Deepak.

Ropiaah was appointed a Senator in April by Prime Minister Najib Razak, replacing Shahrizat who was forced to step down as Women's minister following the NFC corruption scandal. There is speculation among Wanita members that Ropiaah has been 'earmarked' to take over top Women's post.

So far, Raja Ropiaah has declined comment other than to say that her lawyers will look into the matter.

"At this point, I don't wish to comment but will let my lawyers handle it. Deepak has been going around saying all sorts of things. We want to know what his accusations are and take the next step from then on," Raja Ropiaah toldMalaysia Chronicle on Tuesday.

Criminal action

Deepak's firm had in 2007 bought 223 acres of land from Awan Megah for about RM120mil at RM12psf but the deal has remained "stuck" and the titles still not released to Cebur Megah, in which Astacanggih claims to have 100% control.

"I want to develop the land but Raja Ropiaah has been dilly-dallying and delaying the transfer. I would assume that the only logical reason why she would do that is that she must have sold this land over and over again to many other parties," he said.

So far, Deepak has revealed documents showing Raja Ropiah had sold one of the 3 parcels of land making up the 223 acres to GuppyUnip Sdn Bhd at RM16psf.

"It is a criminal action to sell land that has already been sold to Astacanggih," said Deepak.