Former Sabah CM Musa Aman acquitted of all 46 charges of corruption, money laundering (updated)

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman has been acquitted of all 46 criminal charges against him involving corruption and money laundering relating to timbers concessions.

High Court judge Justice Muhammad Jamil Hussin granted the order after Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid told the court that the prosecution intended to withdraw all the charges during case management here on Tuesday (June 9).

Musa’s lawyer Francis Ng then asked for the court to grant a full acquittal to avoid the charges hanging over Musa’s head.

Justice Jamil allowed the application and ordered for a discharge amounting to an acquittal on all charges.

In a statement Tuesday, Musa thanked the prosecution and the judiciary for its objectivity, professionalism, impartiality and conduct without prejudice in evaluating the facts of the case since two years ago.

“The application to strike out the prosecution was filed early this year and was done in a meticulous manner and supported with statements and documents that were clear and undeniable proofs, ” he said.

Musa said what has happened to him was due to “political differences” and took it as a test from God for him and his family.

Musa was first charged in November, 2018, with 35 counts of under Section 11(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 for accepting gratification by an agent where he allegedly received a total of US$63mil (around RM243mil) in Hong Kong and Singapore as an inducement for offering timber concessions in Sabah.

In March 2019, Musa was brought to court for the second time to face 16 charges of money laundering involving US$37.8mil and S$2.5mil, amounting to about RM160mil in total.

In October 2019, the prosecution dropped five out of the 35 charges of graft against Musa and made amendments to the existing 30 charges then relating to the dates, transactions and names of contractors.