PUTRAJAYA, June 25 — The Court of Appeal today acquitted and discharged Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman of four charges involving criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of property and money laundering linked to funds from Angkatan Bersatu Anak Muda (Armada).
A three-member bench comprising Justices Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, Datuk Azman Abdullah and Datuk Noorin Badaruddin allowed Syed Saddiq’s appeal to overturn his conviction and sentence of seven years’ jail, two strokes of the cane, and a RM10 million fine imposed by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Nov 9, 2023.
“We find that the prosecution failed to prove the abetment charge against the appellant (Syed Saddiq). The evidence presented was not credible and did not support the misappropriation charge under Section 403. Additionally, the money laundering charges under AMLA could not be sustained.
“Therefore, the appellant is acquitted and discharged of all charges,” said Justice Noorin, who read out the unanimous decision.
Syed Saddiq, 32, had been accused of abetting Armada’s former assistant treasurer, Rafiq Hakim Razali, in committing criminal breach of trust involving RM1 million. The alleged offence was said to have occurred at CIMB Bank Berhad, Menara CIMB KL Sentral, on March 6, 2020, under Section 406 of the Penal Code.
For the second charge, he was accused of misappropriating RM120,000 from the Maybank Islamic Berhad account of Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise by instructing Rafiq Hakim to dispose of the funds.
The act was alleged to have taken place at Malayan Banking Berhad, Taman Pandan Jaya, between April 8 and 21, 2018, under Section 403 of the Penal Code.
Additionally, Syed Saddiq faced two charges of money laundering involving the transfer of RM50,000 each from his Maybank Islamic account to his Amanah Saham Bumiputera account.
These transactions, allegedly proceeds of unlawful activities, were said to have occurred at a bank in Taman Perling, Johor Bahru, on June 16 and 19, 2018.
The money laundering charges were brought under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, which provides for a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a fine of up to five times the amount involved, upon conviction.
Justice Noorin said the charge of criminal breach of trust (CBT) could not stand, as it was undisputed that the RM1 million withdrawn was used for Armada’s programmes and not misappropriated.
She added that Syed Saddiq could not be found guilty of abetment when the primary offence itself failed to meet the elements required under Section 405 of the Penal Code.
“The central question is whether the appellant’s alleged instruction to the 13th prosecution witness (PW13), Rafiq Hakim Razali, to withdraw the RM1 million amounted to abetment of CBT.
“In our view, directing someone to withdraw funds cannot be equated with ‘disposal’ or ‘conversion’ as defined under Section 405.
“There must be actual misappropriation. In this case, there is no evidence the appellant benefited personally from the funds, which were entirely used for Armada’s activities,” she said.
Regarding the RM120,000 misappropriation charge, Justice Noorin said the funds were raised for the appellant’s election campaign and, therefore, essentially belonged to him
“PW13 never stated the RM120,000 belonged to Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise (ABBE). He merely said the funds were deposited into an account under ABBE’s name.
“There is no evidence showing that the money belonged to ABBE or Armada. The prosecution also failed to prove that the account was used to receive donations meant for the organisation, rather than to support the appellant’s campaign,” she added.
Before adjourning proceedings, presiding judge Justice Ahmad Zaidi clarified that the decision was based solely on the appeal records and was not influenced by external views, including public opinion or social media comments.
Present in court were defence counsels Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden and Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, representing Syed Saddiq, and deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin.
