Feb 10 verdict on prosecution's bid to restore Isa Samad's graft conviction
The Federal Court will decide on the prosecution’s appeal seeking to reinstate former Felda chairperson Isa Abdul Samad’s corruption conviction on Feb 10.
The panel, led by judge Nordin Hassan, fixed the date after hearing submissions from deputy public prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz and lawyer M Athimulan, who is representing Isa.
Presiding with Nordin today were judges Lee Swee Seng and Che Ruzima Ghazali.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court previously convicted Isa of nine corruption charges and sentenced him to six years’ imprisonment and a RM15.45 million fine on Feb 3, 2021.
The Court of Appeal on March 6, 2024, granted him a full acquittal, setting aside his conviction and sentences.
Millions in gratifications
Isa was charged on Dec 14, 2018, with criminal breach of trust (CBT) over the purchase of the Merdeka Hotel & Suites in Kuching for RM160 million without the Felda board of directors’ approval.
The 77-year-old was also charged with nine counts of receiving kickbacks from Syarikat Gagasan Abadi Properties Sdn Bhd director Ikhwan Zaidel, through his former special officer Zahid Arip, totalling RM3.09 million in cash.
The money was purportedly gratification for helping to approve Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd’s (FICSB) purchase of the hotel for RM160 million.
He was acquitted of the CBT charge at the end of the prosecution’s case on June 16, 2020, prior to his conviction for the remaining nine corruption charges in 2021.
DPP says appellate court erred
During submissions today, Afzainizam argued that the High Court, having the advantage of assessing witnesses’ evidence and demeanour during the trial, was right to convict Isa.
The prosecutor added that the Court of Appeal erred in disturbing the lower court’s findings, as it did not have the same advantage.
Afzainizam further submitted that the appellate court had erred in finding that the prosecution failed to prove Isa received the bribe by accepting his defence that he did not instruct his special officer to ask for it.
“The facts showed that Isa had expected to receive a reward after the FICSB approval to purchase the hotel was made on April 29, 2014,” he said.
This expectation, Afzainizam added, was evident when Isa instructed his former special officer to ask for a bribe and received it in stages from Ikhwan.
In response, Isa’s counsel submitted that the Court of Appeal’s judgment was reasoned and correct in both fact and law.
“The Court of Appeal has meticulously identified where the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, and where the trial judge erred in applying legal presumptions that prejudiced the respondent’s right to a fair trial and relied on speculation.
“The Court of Appeal’s decision is legally justified and supported by authorities, ensuring that the conviction, which rested on speculation and legal misdirection, was rightly held to be unsafe,” he said in urging the prosecution’s appeal to be dismissed.
