Appeals court allows Peter Anthony to submit new evidence in forgery case

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has allowed an application by former Sabah infrastructure development minister Datuk Peter Anthony to submit new evidence in his final appeal to set aside his conviction, prison sentence and fine for forgery.

A panel of three judges led by Justice Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera allowed his application on Wednesday (Feb 7) after DPPs Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin and Haresh Prakash Somiah did not object to it.

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Justice Vazeer, sitting with Justices Datuk Azman Abdullah and Datuk Azizul Azmi Adnan. then set Thursday (Feb 8) for case management to be conducted online.

Anthony was represented by lawyers Datuk Nicholas Kow Eng Chuan and Emile Ezra Md Hussain.

The new evidence is related to a police report lodged by Mohd Shukur Mohd Din, the third prosecution witness and also Anthony's friend.

Wan Shaharuddin, when met outside the court, said the prosecution did not object to the application as they felt the evidence to be submitted by the defence had no relevance in the appeal.

Anthony had filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal in April last year to set aside his conviction, three years' jail and RM50,000 fine in default 15 months’ jail, imposed on him by the Sessions Court on May 26, 2022.

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He was found guilty of forging a letter for a mechanical and electrical systems maintenance and service contract at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) in 2014.

He lost his appeal in the High Court after it was dismissed on April 18 last year.

It will be Anthony’s final appeal in the Court of Appeal, as his case originated from the Sessions Court.

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 to use it for fraudulent purposes.

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

The charge was framed under Section 468 of the Penal Code which provides a maximum prison sentence of seven years and a fine, upon conviction.

However, the Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) president paid the fine. – Bernama