A three-judge panel at the Court of Appeal has acquitted Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman of graft charges involving RM1.2mil from Armada Bersatu, ruling that errors by the trial judge warranted appellate intervention.
00:00The Court of Appeal has acquitted Mu'ar MP Syed Sadiq Syed Abdul Rahman in the 1.2 million ringgit graft case involving funds from Armada Bersatu.
00:11In a unanimous decision on Wednesday, a three-member panel chaired by Justice Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim allowed Syed Sadiq's appeal,
00:20ruling that errors made by the trial judge warranted appellate intervention.
00:25The other judges on the panel were Justices Datuk Azman Abdullah and Datuk Nourin Badaruddin.
00:32Delivering the judgment, Justice Nourin said the trial judge had failed to properly consider the defense's case, resulting in a misdirection.
00:41Syed Sadiq had been appealing his conviction and sentence over four charges, abetting criminal breach of trust involving 1 million ringgit,
00:50misappropriating 120,000 ringgit, and two counts of money laundering involving 50,000 ringgit each.
00:58Justice Nourin said the abetment charge could not stand, as there was no proof that former Armada Assistant Treasurer Rafiq Hakim Razali had dishonestly withdrawn 1 million ringgit from Armada's account.
01:12Although Rafiq admitted to making the withdrawal under Syed Sadiq's instruction, the act itself did not constitute criminal misappropriation, as there was no evidence of dishonest intent.
01:24The court also found that the trial judge had failed to establish who actually owned the 1 million ringgit, a critical point in determining whether a criminal breach of trust had occurred.
01:36As for the money laundering charges, the appellate court noted that the high court judge had not addressed Syed Sadiq's defense, that the funds did not originate from unlawful activity.
01:46The court of appeal also acknowledged the defense's argument that Rafiq may have tailored his testimony under pressure from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, MACC, lending weight to claims of witness coercion.
02:01Meanwhile, Justice Ahmad Zaidi stated that the conviction handed down by the high court was unsafe and thus should be overturned.
02:08Regarding the money laundering charges, the court found that no findings were made by the trial judge about the appellant's defense, that the proceeds were not from unlawful activity.
02:19On November 9, 2023, High Court Judge Justice Azhar Abdul Hamid found Syed Sadiq guilty on all four charges and sentenced him to seven years in prison, a 10 million ringgit fine and two strokes of the cane.
02:33The charges stemmed from allegations that Syed Sadiq had abetted Rafiq in misappropriating one million ringgit in Armada funds, misused 120,000 ringgit from Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise's Maybank Islamic account and laundered 250,000 ringgit transactions, believed to be illicit proceeds which were transferred from his personal Maybank Islamic account into his Amanah Saham Bumi Putra account.
