High Court upholds prison sentence, RM50,000 fine on Peter Anthony

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here upheld the three-year prison sentence and a RM50,000 fine imposed on former Sabah Infrastructure Development Minister Datuk Peter Anthony for forging a letter for the purpose of cheating.

Judge Datuk Ahmad Bache made the decision on Tuesday (April 18) after dismissing Peter’s appeal to set aside the conviction and sentence imposed by the Sessions Court on May 26 last year.

The court also allowed an application by lawyer S. Devanandan, representing Peter, to stay the execution of the jail sentence and conviction pending the disposal of an appeal at the Court of Appeal.

Peter, 52, filed the appeal in June last year against the three years' imprisonment and a fine of RM50,000 after he was found guilty of forging a letter for a Mechanical and Electrical Systems (M&E) maintenance and service contract at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) in 2014.

He was charged in his capacity as managing director of Syarikat Asli Jati Sdn Bhd with forging a letter from the office of the UMS Deputy Vice-Chancellor, dated June 9, 2014, by inserting a false statement with the intention of using it for fraudulent purposes.

The offence was allegedly committed at the office of the Prime Minister's principal private secretary at the Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya between June 13 and August 21, 2014.

The Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) president paid the fine. - Bernama