MACC denies abuse of power in probe against Syed Saddiq
An MACC investigating officer (IO) rubbished the allegation that its probe against Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman was a fishing expedition.
Muhamad Khairi Muhamad Rodi testified before the Kuala Lumpur High Court today that there was no abuse of power in the antigraft agency’s investigation against the former youth and sports minister...
An MACC investigating officer (IO) rubbished the allegation that its probe against Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman was a fishing expedition.
Muhamad Khairi Muhamad Rodi testified before the Kuala Lumpur High Court today that there was no abuse of power in the antigraft agency’s investigation against the former youth and sports minister.
The 23rd prosecution witness claimed this during the trial of the former Bersatu Youth chief over the alleged misappropriation of RM1.2 million of funds from the youth wing of the ruling party.
Khairi was the MACC IO in the probe of a report lodged by Syed Saddiq (above) over RM250,000 that allegedly went missing from the Muda co-founder’s house.
During proceedings before trial judge Azhar Abdul Hamid, the witness said he and five other MACC officers swooped onto the accused’s house between late March and early April 2020 as part of the probe into the purported missing RM250,000.
While under cross-examination by defence counsel Gobind Singh Deo, Khairi testified that he was initially probing Syed Saddiq generally under the MACC Act 2009 without a specific provision therein.
The lawyer then insinuated that the MACC had no actual case against Syed Saddiq but proceeded to come up with a case anyway, to which the witness denied this assertion.
Khairi did not agree with Gobind’s contention that the MACC probe against Syed Saddiq was a fishing expedition to come up with some way to charge the accused in court.
Gobind: I say this is an abuse of power by you and MACC to kenakan (implicate) Syed Saddiq.
Khairi: I disagree.
On June 21, Syed Saddiq’s parents testified that the MACC investigation against the lawmaker in 2020 was a way to pressure him to support then premier Muhyiddin Yassin. Muhyiddin is also the Bersatu president.
The court previously heard from other witnesses that the initial MACC investigation over the alleged missing RM250,000 later morphed into the present case involving the alleged misappropriation of RM1.2 million of funds from Bersatu Youth.
Proceedings before Azhar in regard to the four charges against Syed Saddiq will resume tomorrow morning.
CBT and money laundering charges
One of the four charges, namely for criminal breach of trust (CBT), Syed Saddiq, 29, in his capacity as then Bersatu Youth chief entrusted with party funds, was alleged to have committed the offence by withdrawing RM1 million via a CIMB Bank Berhad cheque without the permission of the party’s supreme council.
He was purported to have committed the offence at CIMB Bank Berhad, Menara CIMB KL Sentral, Jalan Stesen Sentral 2, Kuala Lumpur, on March 6, 2020.
The CBT charge is framed under Section 405 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 406 of the same law, which provides a jail term of up to 10 years, with whipping and a fine as well, upon conviction.
Syed Saddiq was also charged with misusing RM120,000 in contributions for the 14th general election campaign raised through a Maybank Islamic Berhad account belonging to Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise (ABBE) at Maybank Islamic Berhad, Jalan Pandan 3/6A, Taman Pandan Jaya, between April 8 and 21, 2018.
He may be imprisoned for up to five years, with whipping and a fine as well, if found guilty of the offence framed under Section 403 of the Penal Code.
He was also charged with two counts of money laundering, namely two transactions of RM50,000 alleged to be proceeds of unlawful activities, from his Maybank Islamic Berhad account into his Amanah Saham Bumiputera account at a bank in Jalan Persisiran Perling, Taman Perling, Johor Bahru, on June 16 and June 19, 2018.
These charges fall under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, which are punishable under Section 4(1) of the same act, providing maximum imprisonment of 15 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount, or the proceeds of the illegal activities.
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