PROSECUTION SUBMITS SYED SADDIQ ACTED WITH MALICIOUS INTENT IN RM1 MLN WITHDRAWAL

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) -- The prosecution in Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s trial submitted in the Court of Appeal today that he acted with malicious intent by using the pretext of political mileage to justify directing the withdrawal of RM1 million from the Angkatan Bersatu Anak Muda (Armada) account.

Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin submitted that Syed Saddiq was fully aware that instructing Prosecution Witness 13 (PW13), Rafiq Hakim Razali, to withdraw the funds on the grounds of concerns over internal party turmoil and his personal entitlement to the money, was improper.

He further submitted that the appellant’s directive to PW13 was closely linked to the Sheraton Move in February 2020, a pivotal political event in Malaysia’s history that led to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.

"The testimony of Prosecution Witness 11 (PW11), Ahmad Redzuan Mohamed Shafi, and PW13 clearly indicates that the appellant was concerned about leadership changes within Bersatu or Armada before the withdrawal. We submit that citing 'political mileage' as justification demonstrates his malicious intent in executing the transaction.

"The appellant treated the funds in Armada’s account as if they were his personal assets, using them at his discretion without proper documentation. Furthermore, he failed to inform PW13 whether he had obtained approval for the withdrawal," he said on the second day of Syed Saddiq’s appeal hearing against his conviction and sentence on four charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT) and money laundering related to Armada funds.

"The appellant has a duty under Section 9 of the Evidence Act 1950 to explain why he cited internal leadership changes in Bersatu or Armada as a justification for instructing PW13 to withdraw RM1 million from Armada’s official account.

"What did Syed Saddiq mean when he stated that the funds in Armada’s account were the result of his hard work and that he could use them in their entirety?

"This testimony was provided by PW13 and was based on documents referred to by the defence itself during cross-examination. Yet, to this day, there has been no explanation presented in court as evidence," he said.

Furthermore, Wan Shaharuddin argued that as one of Armada’s trustees and a leader who frequently portrayed a clean image to the public, Syed Saddiq should have been fully aware that he should not have relied on these two justifications to instruct PW13 to commit an offence.

Wan Shaharuddin submitted that PW13 was merely a tool used by the appellant, much like the members of the WhatsApp group 'Valued Add', who were also manipulated to safeguard the appellant’s reputation, even to the extent of involving his innocent parents in a situation he had caused.

On Nov 9, 2023, the Kuala Lumpur High Court sentenced Syed Saddiq, 32, to seven years imprisonment, two strokes of the cane, and an RM10 million fine after finding him guilty on four charges of abetting CBT, misusing property, and money laundering involving Armada’s funds.

He was convicted of abetting former Armada assistant treasurer Rafiq Hakim Razali, who had been entrusted with RM1 million of party funds, in committing CBT by misappropriating the money at CIMB Bank Berhad, Menara CIMB KL Sentral, Jalan Sentral 2, on March 6, 2020.

The former Youth and Sports Minister was also found guilty of misusing RM120,000 from an Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise account with Maybank Islamic Berhad by directing Rafiq Hakim to dispose of the funds at Malayan Banking Berhad, Jalan Pandan 3/6A, Taman Pandan Jaya, between April 8 and April 21, 2018.

Additionally, the former Armada Chief was convicted on two counts of money laundering, involving the transfer of RM50,000 each from his Maybank Islamic Berhad account into his Amanah Saham Bumiputera account, believed to be illegal proceeds, at a bank in Jalan Persisiran Perling, Taman Perling, Johor Bahru, on June 16 and 19, 2018.

The appeal hearing before a three-judge panel comprising Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, Datuk Azman Abdullah, and Datuk Noorin Badaruddin, is set to resume on April 17.

-- BERNAMA