PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today acquitted and discharged a Syariah lawyer of a criminal breach of trust (CBT) charge involving RM7,000 in client fees from 13 years ago.
A three-member bench, comprising Justices Datuk Hashim Hamzah, Datuk Azman Abdullah, and Datuk Azmi Ariffin, unanimously allowed the appeal filed by Muhammad Hafiz Ab Rashid, overturning the Sessions Court's ruling, which had convicted and sentenced him to two years' imprisonment, two strokes of the cane, and a RM5,000 fine.
In delivering the court's unanimous judgment, Justice Azmi Ariffin held that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
He noted that the appellant was no longer an employee of the law firm where the offence was alleged to have occurred and there was insufficient evidence to establish that the client, Siti Robaan Shafii, was a client of that firm.
The court found that the RM7,000 paid by Siti Robaan Shafii to the appellant constituted a legal fee payable to him, as he had by then become a partner at a new firm and had been formally appointed as her counsel. Consequently, the funds did not belong to the previous firm.
Justice Azmi held that the wakalah (power of attorney) agreement executed by the client demonstrated her retention of the appellant’s services through a distinct legal firm, not the practice implicated in the CBT charge.
The court further noted that the client had formally appointed Muhammad Hafiz to represent her in two separate Syariah court matters, both of which he concluded without any participation from his former firm.
According to the charge, Muhammad Hafiz, 38, was accused of misappropriating client funds while he was still affiliated with his previous employer.
The offence was alleged to have occurred at the Syariah High Court in Shah Alam, Selangor, on March 16, 2012.
He was convicted and sentenced by the Sessions Court on Sept 27, 2023, to two years' imprisonment, two strokes of the cane, and a fine of RM5,000, in default of six months' imprisonment. Subsequently, the High Court upheld the conviction and sentence on June 28 last year.
During today’s proceedings, deputy public prosecutor Zander Lim Wai Keong appeared for the respondent, while the appellant was represented by counsel Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla. - Bernama
