PUTRAJAYA: Former Sabah minister Datuk Peter Anthony will serve his three-year jail sentence for falsifying documents from today after losing his final appeal.
A three-judge Court of Appeal panel chaired by Justice Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim upheld Peter's conviction and sentence after finding that there were no errors from the Sessions Court that would justify intervention by the appellate court.
The other judges on the panel were Justices Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Azmi Ariffin.
ALSO READ: Decision on Peter Anthony's final appeal for falsifying documents postponed (https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2025/01/08/decision-on-peter-anthony039s-final-appeal-for-falsifying-documents-postponed)
Justice Zaini, who read the decision to a packed courtroom on Tuesday (March 4), said the panel concurred with the Sessions Court's determination that the appellant had forged the letter with the intention to commit fraud.
The panel said the Sessions Court, in evaluating the evidence, had accepted the testimonies of three key witnesses in the case and concluded that only the appellant had the opportunity to forge the heading of the letter.
"He deceived the three witnesses (SP3, SP8, and SP9) into believing that the letter was related to the Smart Partnership project.
"Additionally, the court found that the appellant used the letter to mislead another witness (SP12) into thinking that he had Universiti Malaysia Sabah’s support for securing the M&E (mechanical and electrical systems) contract through direct negotiations for five years, although the contract had already been awarded to REMT Utama Sdn Bhd through an open tender process," Justice Zaini said.
ALSO READ: Peter Anthony's final appeal concludes, court adjourns delivery of decision (https://www.thestar.com.my/news/2024/08/01/peter-anthony039s-final-appeal-concludes-court-adjourns-delivery-of-decision)
The forgery would lead to Syarikat Asli Jati Sdn Bhd, a company in which Peter was the managing director, being awarded the Phase 2B of the M&E contract, to the detriment of UMS and REMT, the judge added.
"We are convinced that the Sessions Court provided a thorough judicial evaluation of the evidence, and we find no errors that would justify intervention by the appellate court.
"Therefore, we conclude that the conviction of the accused is sound. We dismiss the appellant’s appeal and uphold the conviction and sentence imposed by the Sessions Court," Justice Zaini said.
Justice Ahmad Zaidi later issued a committal order for Peter to begin his jail term with immediate effect.
On May 26, 2022, Peter was sentenced to three years' imprisonment and fined RM50,000 after he was found guilty of forging a letter for maintenance work at UMS.
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.
He paid the fine.
Peter later filed an appeal against his conviction and sentence but it was dismissed by the High Court on April 18, 2023. He was out on RM80,000 bail pending the appeal.
