PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has acquitted Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman in the RM1.2mil graft case involving funds from Armada Bersatu.
A three-judge panel, chaired by Justice Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, unanimously allowed Syed Saddiq's appeal after finding that the trial judge had committed errors warranting intervention.
Other judges on the panel were Justices Azman Abdullah and Noorin Badaruddin.
In the decision, read by Justice Noorin, the appellate court found a lack of judicial appreciation of the defence case, resulting in non-direction by the trial judge.
"It is not sufficient for the trial judge to say he had considered or evaluated the evidence when such consideration could not be found in his judgment," Justice Noorin stated.
Syed Saddiq had been appealing against his conviction and sentence, where he faced charges of abetment to commit criminal breach of trust by misappropriating RM1mil from Armada funds; misappropriating RM120,000; and two counts of money laundering involving RM50,000 each.
Justice Noorin noted that the abetment charge must fall as there was no evidence that the key prosecution witness, former Armada assistant treasurer Rafiq Hakim Razali, had withdrawn the RM1mil dishonestly.
The witness admitted to withdrawing the money from Armada's funds as he was following Syed Saddiq’s instructions.
"Causing, commanding, or instructing someone to withdraw the money cannot be said to dispose of the money. The act of withdrawal does not fit actus reus," Justice Noorin explained.
The panel also found that the trial judge erred by not questioning who owned the money.
"We find that the RM120,000 belongs to no other person but the appellant and, as such, no offence under Section 403 of the Penal Code was committed by the appellant," Justice Noorin added.
Regarding the money laundering charges, the court found that no findings were made by the trial judge about the appellant's defence that the proceeds were not from unlawful activity.
"There was no consideration of the appellant's defence that he had no reason to believe or suspect that the RM100,000 transferred into his ASB account were proceeds from unlawful activity," she said.
On the defence's argument that Rafiq tailored his evidence to appease the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the court found merit in the contention that witnesses were pressured, suggesting MACC might have exerted pressure.
Meanwhile, Justice Ahmad Zaidi stated the court allowed Syed Saddiq's appeal as it found the High Court conviction to be unsafe.
"The conviction and sentence are therefore set aside," he said.
On Nov 9, 2023, High Court judge Justice Azhar Abdul Hamid had found Syed Saddiq guilty of four charges, including abetting in criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of funds, and money laundering involving RM1.2mil.
He was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment, a RM10mil fine, and two strokes of the cane for all charges.
Syed Saddiq was charged with abetting Rafiq, who was entrusted with RM1mil of Armada's funds, to commit CBT by misappropriating the funds.
On the second charge, the former youth and sports minister was charged with misappropriating RM120,000 from Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise’s Maybank Islamic Bhd account by making Rafiq dispose of the money.
He was also charged with 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.
Separately Muda acting president Amira Aisya Abdul Aziz said the party were proud and grateful for the decision made by the Court of Appeal.
From 2020, I have been with Syed Saddiq as a friend and political ally. Based on our mutual trust, I had acted as surety because I believed in his innocence.
“This verdict cleared his name as well as his honesty and being on the right path in terms of politics.
“As such, we at Muda will be holding a central executive committee meeting to discuss our future and Syed Saddiq’s position in the party,” she said.
