Isa Samad gets 6 years jail, RM15.45m fine for corruption
Former Felda chairperson Mohd Isa Abdul Samad was sentenced to six years in jail and a fine of RM15.45 million for nine counts of corruption linked to the purchase of a hotel in Sarawak.
The High Court in Kuala Lumpur meted out the sentence today, after having earlier ruled that the defence failed to raise reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case against the accused...
Former Felda chairperson Mohd Isa Abdul Samad was sentenced to six years in jail and a fine of RM15.45 million for nine counts of corruption linked to the purchase of a hotel in Sarawak.
The High Court in Kuala Lumpur meted out the sentence today, after having earlier ruled that the defence failed to raise reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case against the accused.
However, judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali allowed the defence's application for stay of execution on the jail and fine, pending the disposal of the accused's appeal to the Court of Appeal.
The court fixed today for a decision at the end of defence of Isa’s corruption case linked to the purchase of Merdeka Palace Hotel & Suites (MPHS) by Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd (FICSB).
In meting out the sentence today, Nazlan said that the court has taken into account all mitigating factors and the need for appropriate punishment, as well as public interest and the interest of the accused.
"The objective of sentencing in criminal cases is not just to punish the accused but to give the opportunity to the guilty to seek rehabilitation as well as act as a deterrent on similar crimes by the same accused or other people.
"The court has taken into account the accused's age of 72 years old and his long record of service to the government and in the nation's politics, whereby he had contributed service as Negeri Sembilan menteri besar for over two decades as well as federal territories minister.
"His long-standing contribution cannot be denied, but the court must emphasise that corruption is serious as it threatens economic growth as well as the sovereignty of the country's law and denies the people from receiving efficient service.
"Based on this and relevant legal precedents, the court has decided to mete out an appropriate and deterrent sentence as per Section 16 of the MACC Act," Nazlan said as Isa looked on from the dock.
The judge then sentenced the accused to six years jail for each of the nine charges, totalling 54 years of imprisonment.
Nazlan, however, ordered for the jail sentence to run concurrently, meaning Isa need only serve a total of six years in jail.
The judge also ordered the accused pay a total of RM15.45 million in fines for all nine charges.
Nazlan ordered Isa to serve an additional 18 years in jail in default of payment of the total fine.
'Faces high risk'
Upon sentencing, lead defence counsel Sallehuddin Saidin pleaded for his client to be granted a stay of execution of the jail sentence and fine, pending the disposal of his appeal to the Court of Appeal.
Sallehuddin said the court needs to take into account that in the event that Isa succeeds at the Court of Appeal, the outcome would be rendered nugatory because the accused would have suffered the effects of imprisonment while awaiting the outcome of the appeal.
"He (Isa) is elderly and faces a high risk if imprisoned due to the spread of Covid-19 in prisons and posing a major problem to the whole of Malaysia," he said.
Sallehuddin informed the court that the stay ought to be allowed, pending the appeal as it would be impossible for a pensioner like Isa to pay the RM15.45 million fine now.
The lawyer also pleaded for the court that, in the event that it seeks to increase the accused's bail, then the increase should not lead to a total bail of more than RM1 million.
Up to the point of the decision today, Isa has been out on bail of RM800,000.
However, deputy public prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz sought for the court to deny the defence's bid for stay of the sentence because they have not demonstrated any special and exceptional circumstances to warrant such a stay.
'No merit shown'
The DPP argued that the stay ought not to be granted because the accused has been convicted by the court and that the presumption of innocence until proven guilty no longer applies to him.
"There is no merit shown by the accused in this case (for application for stay of execution of the jail term and fine)," Afzainizam said.
The DPP also pointed out that in the event that the court decides to grant stay on the sentence, then the court should increase the bail amount appropriately.
He pointed out that if Isa was able to raise RM800,000 for bail previously, then the accused definitely has the money to post further increased bail.
Judge Nazlan then allowed the defence's application to stay the jail term and fine, pending the disposal of appeal by the Court of Appeal, due to the defence succeeding in showing special circumstances to justify the stay.
"The court therefore orders that a bail of RM1.5 million (existing RM800,000 bail be increased with an additional RM700,000 in bail amount), which must be posted by the applicant (Isa) by 2pm tomorrow.
"The applicant must also report to a police station nearest his house on the first day of every month until disposal of the appeal," Nazlan ruled.
On June 16 last year, the court ordered Isa to enter his defence to the nine corruption charges, following its finding that the prosecution succeeded in establishing a prima facie case against Isa.
On Sept 3, the defence closed its case after having called six witnesses to testify for Isa, who was Negeri Sembilan menteri besar for 22 years from 1982 to 2004.
Isa was charged with nine counts of dishonestly receiving gratification for himself, in cash totalling RM3,090,000, from Ikhwan Zaidel, who is a board member of Gegasan Abadi Properties Sdn Bhd, through one Muhammad Zahid Md Arip.
The money was purportedly gratification for helping to approve the purchase of the hotel by FICSB for RM160 million.
The offences were allegedly perpetrated at Level 49, Menara Felda, Platinum Park, No 11, Persiaran KLCC, between July 21, 2014, and Dec 11, 2015.
The nine charges, framed under Section 16(a)(A) of the MACC Act 2009, are punishable under Section 24(1) of the same law.
Isa faces a jail term not exceeding 20 years, and a fine of at least five times the bribe amount, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if convicted.
Initially charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, his case was later transferred to the High Court.
On Jan 14 last year, the prosecution closed its case against Isa, during which 15 witnesses testified against the accused. The trial first began on Oct 8, 2019.
Zahid wanted to reveal truth about bribes
During the lengthy reading out of the grounds of judgment, Nazlan ruled that the court could not accept the defence’s various contentions, among them that Zahid merely wished to implicate Isa with corruption.
The judge noted that Isa’s own testimony regarding Zahid, who was the accused’s special officer from 2011 to 2016, suggested that the prosecution witness had obeyed the accused’s every direction.
Therefore, based on the accused’s own testimony, there was no reason for Zahid to implicate the accused except in order to reveal the truth regarding the bribes (suapan-suapan) received by the accused from SP16 (16th prosecution witness Ikhwan) via SP21 (21st prosecution witness Zahid),” Nazlan said.
The judge also said the court could not accept the defence’s contention that Zahid was paid RM2 million as an alleged token of gratitude for being a link in the sale and purchase of the hotel.
Nazlan said this is because the defence’s contention contradicts with the entirety of evidence presented during trial.
The judge also noted that the defence did not raise this issue when Zahid was testifying during the prosecution stage of hearing of the case.
“Whatever the case, even if the (alleged) admission of SP21 receiving the RM2 million is true, this does not nullify that the accused had received RM3.09 million in monetary bribe (wang suapan),” Nazlan said.
