Court of Appeal acquits Mohd Isa Samad of corruption charges

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal here has acquitted Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad of his conviction and sentence on nine counts of corruption involving the purchase of a hotel in Sarawak.

In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel chaired by Justice Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera allowed Mohd Isa’s appeal against his conviction and sentence.

“The appeal is allowed and the order of the High Court is set aside,” Justice Vazeer said here on Wednesday.

Justice Vazeer, who read the broad grounds of judgment, said the prosecution presented two different narratives of their case.

He said that in the charges and in the opening statement, the prosecution stated that the gratification was a ‘reward’ for helping to approve the purchase of Merdeka Palace Hotel & Suits (MPHS).

This narrative, however, was changed to ‘inducement’ in the course of the trial, where the appellant did not interfere with the contract for the purchase of MPHS.

“The question then arises as to which element of Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 was used by the trial judge in deciding whether a prima facie case has been established against the appellant.

“Is it one of reward or is it one of inducement? The prosecution cannot change the goalposts midstream,” the judge said.

The appellate court also found that there was no credible evidence showing the appellant had instructed his former special officer Muhammad Zahid Md Arip (who is the 21st prosecution witness or SP21) to make monetary demand from one Ikhwan Zaidel as gratification for the appellant’s assistance to render the approval of Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd (FICSB) board of directors (BOD) for the hotel purchase.

Ikhwan was a board member of Gegasan Abadi Properties Sdn Bhd (GAPSB) and the 16th prosecution witness (SP16).

The decision to buy MPHS at RM160mil was made in the 10th FICSB BOD meeting on April 29, 2014, and according to SP21, the demand for the gratification by the appellant came later.

“If that was so then it cannot be said that the gratification was for the assistance rendered to obtain the approval of FICSB, as that event has already happened and the appellant’s assistance would not be required any further,” Justice Vazeer added.

The panel found merits in Mohd Isa’s appeal and said that appellate intervention was warranted.

“Hence the appeal against conviction and sentence in respect of all charges is allowed and the order of the High Court is set aside.

“The appellant is acquitted and discharged,” Justice Vazeer said.

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Other judges on the panel were Justices Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and S.M.Komathy Suppiah.

He had arrived at the court about 8.45am with his family members.

On Feb 3, 2021, the High Court found Mohd Isa, 73, guilty of nine charges of bribery involving RM3.09mil in Felda’s acquisition of Merdeka Palace Hotel & Suites in Kuching, Sarawak.

The offence was committed on the 49th floor of Menara Felda, Platinum Park, No. 11 Persiaran KLCC, Kuala Lumpur between July 21, 2014 and Dec 11, 2015.

Mohd Isa was sentenced by the then-High Court judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali (now Court of Appeal judge) to six years imprisonment and a fine of RM15.45mil, in default 18 years prison, for all the nine counts.

The sentence was ordered to run concurrently, which meant he needed to serve only six years in prison.

Mohd Isa, who was also the former Negri Sembilan menteri besar, filed the notice of appeal on Feb 4, 2021.

He was released on a RM1.5mil bail pending his appeal and was required to report to the nearest police station on the 1st of every month until the case was settled.