PUTRAJAYA, Oct 22 — The Court of Appeal has reserved its decision regarding the appeals of former Rural and Regional Development Ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohd Arif Ab Rahman and his son against their convictions and prison sentences for bribery.
The appeals were heard before the three-judge bench consisting of judges Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, Datuk Lim Chong Fong and Datuk Azizul Azmi Adnan today. Justice Vazeer is now a Federal Court judge.
Following the completion of submissions from both parties and after a brief deliberation, the court opted to reserve their decision and set Nov 7 for case management to fix the new decision date.
Lawyer Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik representing Mohd Arif, told reporters that the judges require more time to arrive at their decision.
During the proceedings, Hisyam argued that there was no credible evidence to prove Mohd Arif had abetted with his son in committing the offence.
The lawyer contended that Mohd Arif was prejudiced because the Sessions Court judge applied an incorrect presumption under Section 50 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Act 2009.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin asserted that the prosecution based its case on circumstantial evidence, relying on the testimony of its witness Datuk Mohd Safian Mohd Salleh.
He said Mohd Safian testified that Ahmad Zukhari told him that his father (Mohd Arif) would be transferred to the ministry and could “keep an eye on” the project.
Wan Shaharuddin said this was not coincidental, as the first appellant (Mohd Arif) was indeed transferred to that ministry and he had also informed his son that “job is on the way”.
On Nov 14, 2018, a Sessions Court found Mohd Arif, 67, guilty of abetting his son Ahmad Zukhari’s receipt of SGDUS$200,000 (RM627,833) from Syarikat Wazlina Sdn Bhd director Mohd Safian.
He was charged with accepting the money as gratification and an inducement to secure a hybrid solar system project in four remote islands off Sandakan, Sabah, worth RM57.5 million, which was awarded to Syarikat Eramaz (M) Sdn Bhd, an associate company of Syarikat Wazlina.
The Sessions Court sentenced him to a three-year jail term and fined him RM3 million or, in default, three years imprisonment.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Zukhari, 42, a businessman, was sentenced to five years’ jail and fined RM9.6 million or, in default, 10 years’ jail after the Sessions Court found him guilty of four counts of soliciting and accepting bribes in respect of several projects involving the rural development ministry in 2016.
They lost their appeals which were dismissed by the High Court on March 23, 2021, prompting them to appeal to the Court of Appeal.
Lawyers M. Athimulan and Datuk Rajpal Singh represented Ahmad Zukhari. Deputy public prosecutor Norzilati Izhani Zainal@Zainol also appeared for the prosecution. — Bernama
