MELBOURNE, Feb 25 (Bernama) -- Nita Iskander, the lover of slain Malaysian Consulate driver Mohd Shah Saemin, had paid about A$7,000 (RM17,500) to send his body back to Malaysia, a court in Sydney was told Thursday.
Nita's barrister James Trevallion told Newton Local Court Magistrate Margaret Quinn that Nita had planned to attend Shah's burial in Malaysia, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) said.
Earlier, a member of the homicide squad gave evidence that the Indonesian-born woman had made telephone inquiries about leaving Australia before and after her husband's arrest over the murder of Shah -- and had kept the most recent plans from investigators.
Nita, 46, is also alleged to have misled detectives about the whereabouts of her husband and son at the time of the murder.
"(There were) a number of different versions supplied as to the whereabouts of her husband and her son at the time of the murder," Detective Senior Constable Sharon Neil told the court.
In police facts tendered to the court, Nita allegedly admitted she was on the telephone with the victim when the attack took place.
AAP said Nita sat quietly in the dock as the matter was heard, listening as Trevallion detailed that she and the murder victim had been lovers.
It is alleged Nita's taxi driver husband Hazairin and their son killed Shah, 43, in a vicious attack outside his apartment in the suburb of Leichhardt in Sydney's inner west.
Nita, who worked as an accounts clerk at the Malaysian consulate in Sydney where Shah also worked as a driver, is charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder and hindering a police investigation.
Despite her alleged attempts to hide her knowledge of her spouse and son's involvement in the killing, Nita was granted bail and allowed to return to her now empty family home.
Hazairin, 55, was refused bail on Wednesday after being charged with Shah's murder while the couple's son was arrested by Singaporean officials after he fled Australia on Wednesday morning.
Trevallion said Nita's motivation to leave Australia was to travel to Malaysia for Shah's funeral.
In fact, he said, she paid about A$7,000 for his body to be returned to Malaysia for a traditional Muslim funeral.
His body is believed to have been flown out of Sydney this afternoon.
In granting Nita bail, the magistrate required that she surrender her passport, live at her Croydon Park home, report daily to police and not make attempts to leave the country.
She is also required to show she can surrender A$100,000 (RM250,000) if she fails to meet her bail conditions
Before leaving the court, police also asked that Nita return her keys to Shah's Leichhardt apartment and that she not go to the address.
She is due to face Sydney's Central Local Court on April 7, along with her husband.
The couple's son is expected to arrive back in Australia in the coming days.
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