(MENAFN - Jordan Times) The Amman Court of First Instance on Tuesday turned down the 15th bail request presented by the defence team of former General Intelligence Department (GID) chief Mohammad Dahabi.
One of Dahabi's lawyers, Mahmoud Kilani, said the defence would present another bail request soon due to the "conflicting testimonies" of witnesses.
Dahabi, who served as GID chief between 2005 and 2008, is currently standing trial for charges of embezzlement, money laundering and exploitation of public office. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Meanwhile, the Amman Criminal Court continued hearing testimony from prosecution witnesses in the trial.
During Tuesday's session, retired Maj. Gen. Ziad Shraideh, who served as executive director of the GID and as executive assistant to the director, provided details on the project to build the department's headquarters in Amman.
A previous witness had testified that Dahabi had entrusted Marcel Yacoubian, a friend of his, with supervising the building of the GID headquarters without floating a tender in line with due process.
Shraideh said the defendant had informed him in late 2006 about plans to build the new GID headquarters. Dahabi later informed Shraideh that Yacoubian would design the building.
When Yacoubian presented the schematics, Shraideh said, GID engineer Bassam Bdour informed him that the designs were "extremely costly". But the defendant, the witness said, gave the go-ahead for the project based on Yacoubian's designs.
Dahabi gave instructions that Yacoubian be paid for his services as supervisor of the project without issuing any bills, in violation of standard procedures, Shraideh told the court.
The witness said Mohammad Raqqad, who served as GID chief after Dahabi, summoned several department officials to request details about the project and the amount of money allocated for it.
The GID's financial director at the time, Hashem Shdeifat, responded that so far JD700,000 had been spent, according to Shraideh.
When pressed by Raqqad, Shdeifat said Dahabi had taken the JD700,000, according to Shraideh.
Other witnesses on Tuesday testified as to Dahabi's involvement in the entry of oil from Iraq into the Kingdom.
The trial was adjourned until Sunday.
