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New Straits Times

Syed Saddiq acquitted of all corruption charges [WATCH]

PUTRAJAYA: Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has been acquitted of all corruption charges today. A three-judge Court of Appeal panel led by Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim allowed the former youth and sports minister's appeal, setting aside his conviction, seven-year prison sentence, RM10 million fine, and two strokes of the rotan. Other members of the bench were Datuk Azman Abdullah and Datuk Noorin Badaruddin. On July 22, 2021, Syed Saddiq was charged, as the then Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Armada wing chief entrusted with control of Armada funds, with abetting Bersatu assistant treasurer Rafiq Hakim Razali in committing criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM1 million of the organisation's funds. The former youth and sports minister was also charged with misusing property for personal benefit, namely, RM120,000 from the Maybank Islamic Bhd account belonging to Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise (ABBE), by causing Rafiq to dispose of the money. He was further charged with two counts of money laundering involving two transactions of RM50,000, believed to be proceeds of unlawful activities, from his Maybank Islamic Bhd account into his Amanah Saham Bumiputera account. Reading the unanimous decision, Noorin said the lower court had erred in failing to properly evaluate the evidence and the legal elements required to prove the charges against Syed Saddiq. "The act of telling, instructing, or ordering someone to withdraw money cannot be considered as disposal of the money. "The act of withdrawing the money itself does not satisfy the element of actus reus (the physical act of a crime). "The learned trial judge also erred in referring to Article 24(8) of the Bersatu Constitution and in equating 'withdrawal' with 'expenses' under the same provision. "To read the word expenses (perbelanjaan) as necessarily encompassing withdrawal (pengeluaran) is not a conclusion that must follow from Article 24(8) of the Bersatu Constitution. "As such, the withdrawal of the RM1 million from Armada's account by PW13 (prosecution witness Rafiq Hakim) cannot be said to have been used or disposed of in violation of a direction of law," she said. Noorin said the principal offence of criminal breach of trust in the case was groundless, as it was undisputed that the RM1 million withdrawn was not misappropriated but used for Armada's programmes. She said the appellant could not be said to have abetted the commission of CBT when the offence itself did not meet any of the elements under Section 405 of the Penal Code. "The real issue arising from the abetment charge is whether the alleged instruction or command by the appellant to PW13 to withdraw the RM1 million amounts to abetment to commit criminal breach of trust. "It is our considered view that causing, commanding or instructing someone to withdraw money cannot be equated to 'disposal' or 'conversion' as prescribed under Section 405 of the Penal Code. "There must be actual usage of the money in the first place," she said, adding that no evidence showed the appellant had received a single sen from the impugned sum, as all the monies were spent on Armada's programmes or activities. Regarding the charge of misusing RM120,000 in cash, the court said the money came from fundraising efforts and was intended to fund the appellant's election campaign, she said. Therefore, the money essentially belonged to the appellant. "We find that even PW13 did not say the RM120,000 belonged to ABBE. "Instead, he testified that the account belonged to ABBE and that the money was deposited into it. We find not an iota of evidence showing that the money belonged to ABBE or Armada. There was no attempt by the prosecution to lead evidence that it was ABBE's money, or that ABBE's account was used to receive donations as a result of the appellant's appeal for assistance with his election expenses," she said. The court concluded that the prosecution had failed to adduce credible evidence or facts to support the Section 403 charge in a way that was believable or capable of belief. Syed Saddiq was represented by lawyers Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden, Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, S. Devanandan, Alex Tan, Kee Wei Loon, Low Wei Loke, Khairuzzaman Ridha, and Hing Heng Shen. The prosecution was represented by Deputy Public Prosecutors Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, Farah Ezlin Yusop Khan, Nurul Qistini Qamarul Abrar, Muhammad Ashraf Mohamed Tahir, and Wan Nur Iman Wan Ahmad Afzal.