Syed Saddiq remains MP until all legal means exhausted, says Speaker

KUALA LUMPUR: Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s status as a member of the Dewan Rakyat remains unchanged until “all his legal means are exhausted”, says Tan Sri Johari Abdul.

“He still has two more courts (Court of Appeal and Federal Court). (Until) he has not exhausted his legal means, it doesn’t affect his position here,” said the Dewan Rakyat Speaker at a press conference in Parliament on Thursday (Nov 9).

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Earlier on Thursday, Syed Saddiq was sentenced to seven years in jail, a RM10mil fine, and two strokes of cane for all charges of abetting in criminal breach of trust (CBT), misappropriation of funds and money laundering.

The sentence was meted by High Court judge Justice Azhar Abdul Hamid, who found Syed Saddiq guilty after the defence failed to raise any reasonable doubt on all four charges he was facing.

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Syed Saddiq was charged with abetting former Armada assistant treasurer Rafiq Hakim Razali who was entrusted with RM1mil of Armada’s funds, to commit a CBT by misappropriating the funds.

On the second charge, Syed Saddiq was accused of misappropriating RM120,000 from Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise’s Maybank Islamic Bhd account by making Rafiq dispose of the money.

ALSO READ: Syed Saddiq sentenced to seven years jail, RM10mil fine, two strokes of cane

He is also facing two counts of money laundering, via transactions of RM50,000 each, believed to be proceeds from unlawful activities, from his Maybank Islamic Bhd account into his Amanah Saham Bumiputera account in a bank at Jalan Persisiran Perling, Taman Perling, Johor Baru, on June 16 and 19, 2018.