Isa Samad sentenced to six years jail, fined RM15.4mil for graft

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Felda chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad has been sentenced to six years jail and fined RM15.4mil by the High Court.

This comes after he was found guilty by the High Court of nine counts of graft involving more than RM3mil relating to a hotel purchase in Sarawak.

Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali convicted Mohd Isa of the charges here on Wednesday (Feb 3).

In his decision, Justice Mohd Nazlan said Isa's defence had failed to raise any doubt in the prosecution's case against him.

"The defence by the accused is an afterthought, inconsistent and merely a denial without justification," he added.

Prior to sentencing, Justice Mohd Nazlan took note of Mohd Isa's background, administrative record and his political involvement as the accused was a long-serving former Mentri Besar for two decades and also as a cabinet minister.

"Corruption is cancer to society; it threatens the economy and the country's democratic system," said Justice Mohd Nazlan.

Mohd Isa was then sentenced to serve six years jail for each of the nine counts.

He was also fined RM15.4mil in default of 18 years in jail for all the charges.

The court however ordered for the jail sentences to run concurrently, which means Isa will be serving a total of six years in jail.

Justice Mohd Nazlan also granted Isa a stay of execution pending an appeal but ordered for his bail to be increased from RM800,000 to RM1.5mil.

The judge imposed an additional condition on Isa; for him to report to the police station on the first day of each month until the disposal of the appeal, and ordered him to post bail by 2pm on Thursday (Feb 4).

The hearing of the case began on Oct 8,2019, with the prosecution calling 22 witnesses to testify, including former Felda director-general Datuk Hanapi Suhada.

Mohd Isa was charged with nine counts of dishonestly receiving gratification for himself, in cash totalling RM3,090,000 from Ikhwan, who is a board member of Gegasan Abadi Properties Sdn Bhd, through one Muhammad Zahid Md Arip, as gratification for helping to approve the purchase of the Merdeka Palace Hotel & Suites (MPHS) by FIC for RM160mil.

All the offences were allegedly committed at Level 49, Menara Felda, Platinum Park, No. 11, Persiaran KLCC near here between July 21,2014, and Dec 11,2015.

All the charges were framed under Section 16a(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, punishable under Section 24(1) of the same law, which provides for a jail term not exceeding 20 years and a fine of at least five times the bribe amount, RM10,000 or whichever is higher upon conviction.