KUALA LUMPUR: Former secretary of the Youth and Sports Ministry’s Finance Division, Otman Arsahd, was found guilty by the Sessions Court here of 32 charges of corruption and 64 charges of money laundering.
He was sentenced to 15 years’ jail and fined RM284.2mil.
Judge Kamarudin Kamsun handed down the sentence on Otman, 64, after finding that the prosecution had proven the case beyond a reasonable doubt at the end of the defence case.
“After hearing the sworn statements from all the witnesses and examining all the exhibits and arguments presented, the court decided that the defence failed to raise reasonable doubts against the prosecution’s case.
“Therefore, the accused is found guilty and convicted of all the charges brought against him,” said Kamarudin yesterday.
On the 32 charges of corruption, 17 counts were for submitting false claims, for which Otman was sentenced to a total of 243 years in jail and a fine totalling RM190mil, in default 119 months in jail, while for the 15 charges, which were for misusing his position, he was sentenced to 85 years’ imprisonment and fined RM10.8mil, in default 125 months in jail.
Meanwhile, for the 64 money-laundering charges involving receiving proceeds from unlawful activities, the court ordered Otman to be jailed for between three months and 11 years on each count and fined a total of RM83.4mil, in default 934 months’ jail.
However, Kamarudin ordered all the prison sentences to be served concurrently starting yesterday, meaning he will only be in jail for 15 years.
The judge also allowed an application by lawyer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali, representing Otman, for a stay of the execution of the fine and prison sentence with the bail increased by RM300,000 in one surety, with RM100,000 to be paid yesterday and the balance before or on July 10.
Kamarudin also allowed an application by the prosecution to forfeit all 119 assets, including bracelets, rings, watches and cash to the Malaysian government in accordance with Section 40(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.
The judge also allowed a gazette to be issued to allow third parties with interests to claim the assets, such as Hermes Birkin and Prada luxury handbags, luxury vehicles and cash and set Sept 26 as the mention date.
Earlier, during mitigation, Muhammad Rafique asked the court to take into account that Othman was now jobless and relied on this family since he was accused in 2016.
“For seven years, he only focused on attending the hearing of his case and never failed to appear in court throughout the trial,” said the lawyer and requested a stay of the execution of the prison sentence and fine pending an appeal at the High Court.
Deputy public prosecutor Farah Yasmin Salleh asked the court to impose a deterrent sentence as a lesson to society, especially civil servants.
“Not even once did the accused mention in his mitigation that he is remorseful for what he did ... the fund that was misused should have been for the development of the country’s sports and athletes,” she said, adding the hearing of the case took almost eight years.
Otman appeared calm throughout the proceedings.
Also appearing for the prosecution were DPPs Norzilati Izhani Zainal, Haresh Prakash Somiah and Harris Ong Mohd Jeffery Ong. — Bernama
