Court of Appeal acquits Syed Saddiq in RM1.12m Bersatu Youth funds case

Summary

• Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has been acquitted of all charges in the RM1.2 million Bersatu Youth funds case.

• The Court of Appeal bench finds that the prosecution has failed to prove its case.

In a unanimous decision, the Court of Appeal has acquitted Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman of four charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT), misappropriation of property, and money laundering linked to RM1.12 million of Bersatu Youth funds.

In their judgment as read out by judge Noorin Badarudin today, the three-panel bench found that the prosecution failed to prove the charge of abetting a former Bersatu Youth leader in committing criminal breach of trust involving RM1 million in wing funds.

Noorin said the prosecution also failed to show dishonest intent when Syed Saddiq ordered the funds to be withdrawn.

Likewise, the prosecution failed to prove that Syed Saddiq's actions led to wrongful gain for himself or wrongful loss for Bersatu Youth.

The bench, which also comprised judges Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and Azman Abdullah, also found that the prosecution failed to present credible evidence and facts to support the charge that Syed Saddiq had misappropriated RM120,000.

Noorin said there was no evidence proving that the money either belonged to Bersatu Youth or Syed Saddiq.

The failure to prove criminal breach of trust also meant that the court found the money laundering charges involving RM100,000 transferred to his private accounts were also found to be defective.

High Court error

Besides failures by the prosecution, the Court of Appeal also found that the High Court had erred in not fully evaluating the entirety of Syed Saddiq's defence, leading to the conviction.

"As such, the appellant is freed and acquitted of all charges," Noorin said.

Syed Saddiq was accused of committing the crimes between 2018 and 2020.

He was charged in 2021 and convicted by the High Court in November 2023.

The lower court had sentenced him to seven years in jail, two strokes of the rotan, and slapped him with an RM10 million fine.

He has maintained that the charges against him were politically motivated.

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