PUTRAJAYA: The hearing of the prosecution's appeal against the acquittal of former Felda chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad on nine corruption charges has been rescheduled to Feb 5 next year at the Federal Court.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz said the new hearing date was set during the case management, conducted online, before Deputy Registrar Wan Fatimah Zaharah Wan Yussof on Monday (Dec 8).
He said that the hearing was initially fixed for Dec 4, but the date was vacated as Mohd Isa, 75, was admitted to hospital.
On March 6 last year, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal unanimously set aside the conviction as well as a six-year imprisonment and RM15.45mil fine imposed on Mohd Isa by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Feb 3, 2021.
The prosecution filed a notice of appeal on March 7 this year seeking to set aside the Court of Appeal's decision, and on June 26, a petition of appeal, advancing 24 grounds to support its contention that the Court of Appeal erred in law and fact when it acquitted Mohd Isa of all charges.
Mohd Isa was charged in 2018 with nine counts of dishonestly receiving RM3.09mil in bribes from Ikhwan Zaidel, then a director of Gegasan Abadi Properties Sdn Bhd, via his former special officer, Muhammad Zahid Md Arip.
The payment was purportedly made as an inducement for approving the purchase of the Merdeka Palace Hotel & Suites in Kuching, Sarawak, by Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd for RM160mil.
The offence was committed on the 49th floor of Menara Felda, Platinum Park, No. 11 Persiaran KLCC, Kuala Lumpur between July 21, 2014 and Dec 11, 2015.
The charge, under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, and punishable under Section 24(1) of the same law, provides a jail term of not exceeding 20 years and a fine of at least five times the bribe amount, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction. - Bernama
