Syed Saddiq applies for temporary release of passport to go to Singapore and Taiwan

PUTRAJAYA: Muar Member of Parliament Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has filed an application to temporarily release his passport so that he can travel to Singapore and Taiwan.

In his supporting affidavit, which was attached to the notice of motion filed on May 8, Syed Saddiq said he wanted to go to Singapore on May 18 to attend the wedding ceremony of his close friend’s daughter.

The MP said he wanted to accept the invitation of his friend George Yeo Yong-Boon, the former Foreign Affairs Minister of Singapore.

In the affidavit sighted by Bernama, Syed Saddiq also said he was invited by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office In Malaysia to visit Taiwan from June 10 to 15 as one of Malaysia’s representatives.

Court of Appeal deputy registrar Muhammad Noor Firdaus Rosli set May 15 to hear his application. A case management was held before him on Friday (May 10).

Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, confirmed the hearing date for Syed Saddiq’s application.

On Nov 9 last year, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur sentenced Syed Saddiq to seven years jail, fined RM10 million, and gave him two strokes of the cane after finding him guilty of four charges of criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of funds, and money laundering. On the same day, he filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Syed Saddiq, 31, a former Youth and Sports minister from 2018 to 2020, was charged with abetting former Armada assistant treasurer Rafiq Hakim Razali, who was entrusted with RM1 million of Armada’s funds, to commit criminal breach of trust by misappropriating the funds.

He was also charged with misappropriating RM120,000 from Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise’s Maybank Islamic Bhd account by making Rafiq dispose of the money.

For the two charges framed under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFPUAA) Syed Saddiq was accused of laundering money via transactions of RM50,000 each, believed to be proceeds from unlawful activities, from his Maybank Islamic Bhd account into his Amanah Saham Bumiputera account in a bank at Jalan Persisiran Perling, Taman Perling, Johor Baru, on June 16 and 19, 2018.

The High Court allowed Syed Saddiq’s application for a stay of the execution of all sentences pending appeal. His appeal is fixed for case management on May 14. – Bernama