Syed Saddiq should have been convicted – Judge Abu Bakar

Syed Saddiq should have been convicted – Judge Abu Bakar

PUTRAJAYA – The President of the Court of Appeal at the Federal Court here on Monday was of the view that Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman should have been convicted on three charges involving misuse of property and money laundering (AMLA) related to Armada funds.

Delivering his dissenting judgment, Datuk Seri Abu Bakar Jais said the 34-year-old former Armada chief was found to have dishonestly misused RM120,000.

He said Syed Saddiq, as the respondent, had instructed former Armada assistant treasurer Rafiq Hakim Razali, 36, to transfer funds from the Maybank account of Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise (ABBE) into his personal account.

“The money did not belong to Syed Saddiq but was contributed by donors for election campaign purposes and could not be used at his discretion.

“The funds from the ABBE account were later transferred into Syed Saddiq’s Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) investment account,” he said.

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Although the money was collected for an election campaign, Abu Bakar said the former Youth and Sports Minister instructed the transfer to be made before the campaign period began.

He said the element of dishonest misappropriation was proven as donors were never informed that the funds would be used as reimbursement for expenses previously incurred by Syed Saddiq.

He added that the money was claimed to be payment for expenses borne by the respondent before the 14th General Election (GE14) campaign fundraising activities.

For the third charge involving AMLA, the judge said the offence was also proven as the RM120,000 and RM50,000 transferred into the Maybank account were later moved into the ASB account.

He said the funds did not belong to Syed Saddiq but were owned by donors.

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“The money was categorised as proceeds from unlawful activity because it was collected for election campaign purposes, but that purpose was not realised.

“For the fourth charge, which also involved AMLA, no justification was provided regarding the transfer of RM50,000 from the RM120,000 into Syed Saddiq’s ASB account, therefore the charge was also proven,” he said.

However, Abu Bakar said he agreed with the Court of Appeal’s decision to acquit Syed Saddiq of the first charge involving abetting criminal breach of trust.

He said the withdrawal of funds from the account was not an offence prohibited under Article 24.8 of the Bersatu Constitution, as the provision only prohibits the use of funds for expenses without proper approval.

“The amount involved, which was less than RM500,000, did not require approval from the Bersatu Supreme Leadership Council.

“Furthermore, the charge failed to specify how the respondent had dishonestly abetted Rafiq Hakim or the actions taken by him to misuse the funds,” he said.

The judge said the lack of crucial details in the charge meant Syed Saddiq was not provided with sufficient information to defend himself, which was enough to warrant his acquittal on the first charge.

On allegations that witnesses were pressured into giving evidence, Abu Bakar said the claims were merely assertions without supporting evidence and did not create reasonable doubt against the prosecution’s case.

He then ruled that Syed Saddiq should be sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and one stroke of the cane for the second charge.

“For the third and fourth charges, the court imposed six months’ imprisonment and a RM5 million fine for each charge. Failure to pay the fine would result in a two-year jail term.

“However, the conviction and sentences do not apply as the other two judges decided to uphold Syed Saddiq’s acquittal,” he said.