Court throws out ex-Sabah minister’s appeal in forgery case
PUTRAJAYA: Melalap assemblyman Datuk Peter Anthony, a former Sabah minister, has been sent to Kajang Prison to begin a three-year jail sentence after being found guilty of falsifying documents.
A three-judge Court of Appeal panel chaired by Justice Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim dismissed his final appeal yesterday.
The panel upheld the Sabahan leader’s conviction and sentence after finding that there were no errors from the Sessions Court that would justify intervention by the appellate court.
Other judges on the panel were Justices Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Azmi Ariffin.
Justice Mohamed Zaini, who read out the decision, said the panel concurred with the Sessions Court’s determination that the appellant had forged a letter from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) with intention to commit fraud.
The Sessions Court 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.
On May 26, 2022, Anthony was sentenced to three years’ jail and fined RM50,000 after being found guilty of forging a letter for a mechanical and electrical systems (M&E) maintenance work project at UMS. He paid the fine.
He was charged in his capacity as managing director of Syarikat Asli Jati Sdn Bhd with forging a letter from the office of UMS deputy vice-chancellor, dated June 9, 2014, by inserting a false statement for fraudulent purposes.
The offence was committed at the office of the Prime Minister’s principal private secretary at the Perdana Putra building here between June 13 and Aug 21, 2014.
Anthony filed an appeal against his conviction and sentence but it was dismissed by the High Court on April 18, 2023. He was out on an RM80,000 bail pending the appeal.
“He deceived three witnesses into believing that the letter was related to the Smart Partnership project. Additionally, the court found that the appellant had used the letter to mislead another witness into thinking that he had the support of UMS for securing the contract through direct negotiations for five years, although the contract had already been awarded to REMT Utama Sdn Bhd through an open tender,” Justice Mohamed Zaini said yesterday.
The forgery would lead to Syarikat Asli Jati being awarded Phase 2B of the M&E contract, to the detriment of UMS and REMT Utama, 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 Mohamed Zaini said.
Justice Ahmad Zaidi later issued a committal order for Anthony, who is Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat president, to begin his jail term effective immediately.
