KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 — The appeal of former Sabah Infrastructure Development Minister Datuk Peter Anthony to set aside his conviction, three-year-jail term, and RM50,000 fine imposed on him for forging a document for the purpose of cheating will be heard on March 15 before a new High Court judge.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Haresh Prakash Somiah said the new judge, Datuk Ahmad Bache, who handles civil cases, will replace Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, who is currently a Court of Appeal judge.

On June last year, Peter, 51, appealed against the three years’ imprisonment and a fine of RM50,000 after he was found guilty of forging a letter for a Mechanical and Electrical Systems (M&E) maintenance and service contract at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) in 2014.

Peter was charged in his capacity as managing director of Syarikat Asli Jati Sdn Bhd with forging a letter from the office of the UMS Deputy Vice-Chancellor, dated June 9, 2014, by inserting a false statement with the intention of using it for fraudulent purposes.

The offence was allegedly committed at the office of the Prime Minister’s principal private secretary at the Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya between June 13 and August 21, 2014.

However, the Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) president paid the fine. — Bernama