KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Peter Anthony (pic) was in court again yesterday to face another charge, this time for abetting with a lawyer to embezzle over RM15mil in land deals.
The Sabah Infrastructure Development Minister was accused of abetting Michael Ubu to commit criminal breach of trust amounting to RM15,545,400 involving a Risda land deal between July 22,2014, and Nov 19,2015.
He pleaded not guilty before Sessions Court judge Abu Bakar Manat who set Aug 4 for re-mention.
The court set bail at RM500,000 with two local sureties and ordered Peter’s passport to be surrendered to the court. Abu Bakar also ordered Peter to report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission office every two months.
According to the charge sheet, Peter had allegedly committed the offence at a law firm in Beverly Hills Plaza, Jalan Bundusan, here.
He was charged under Section 109 of the Penal Code for abetment to be read with Section 409 for criminal breach of trust.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Fadhly Mohd Zamry said he would apply for Peter’s case to be jointly tried with his previous five money laundering charges amounting to RM8.75mil during the re-mention on Aug 4.
“I will apply for Ubu’s case, as he is also charged with regards to these cases, to be a joint trial, ” he said.
Counsel Dominic Chew applied for Peter’s attendance on the re-mention date to be dispensed with as it was only submission of documents.
Mohd Fadhly argued that Peter must be present as there were documents that require the signatures of both the accused and his lawyers.
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