APPEALS COURT DISMISSES BANGLADESHI’S APPEAL TO RECOVER RM723,000 FORFEITED TO THE GOVT

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 12 (Bernama) -- A Bangladeshi national has failed in his appeal to recover RM723,000 seized during a raid, after the Court of Appeal upheld a forfeiture order made by the Sessions Court.

A three-member bench chaired by Justice Datuk Azmi Ariffin, together with Justices Datuk Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz and Datuk Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid, today dismissed Salman Ahmad Chowdhury’s appeal against the High Court’s decision rejecting his revision application to challenge the Sessions Court’s order forfeiting the money to the government.

Delivering the court’s unanimous decision, Justice Hayatul Akmal said the Sessions Court had not erred in making the forfeiture order and that the High Court’s refusal to revise the Session Court’s order was proper.

She said there was a connection between the seized money and the offence adding that furthermore Salman’s counsel admitted that they did not know who owned the money.

“We also take into consideration that the revision application was filed more than a year after the order was made, which is unreasonable to be given consideration,” she said.

According to the facts of the case,  Salman Ahmad, 32, had pleaded guilty at the Sessions Court to breaching the conditions of his temporary employment visit pass. Although he was authorised to work as a cleaner for a company, he was found working at another place.

Salman was fined RM400 and ordered to be deported. He did not appeal the order before his deportation. 

During a raid on Jan 17, 2024, enforcement officers from the Immigration Department found Salman in possession of several foreign passports and the team also found RM723,000 cash kept in a safe deposit box while Salman and another three persons were subsequently arrested.

Following his guilty plea, the Sessions Court also ordered the forfeiture of RM723,000 to the government. 

His former employer, Agensi Pekerjaan Insight Alliance Sdn Bhd (the agent), was also fined RM10,000 for hiring an undocumented migrant and did not appeal the conviction. 

However, on May 6, 2025, Salman applied to the High Court to exercise its revisionary power to revise the lower court's decision to forfeit the monies. The High Court, on May 19, 2025, dismissed the application, prompting him to appeal to the Court of Appeal.

At the Court of Appeal proceeding, Salman was represented by lawyers Atiqa Nazihah Azmi and Nur Khairunnisa Sabirah Abdul Manan while Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Arif Aizuddin Masrom appeared for the prosecution.

-- BERNAMA