KUALA LUMPUR (July 21): Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman's defence has claimed that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) delay in prosecuting the former youth and sports minister was to pressure him to yield to some political quarters.
Lead defence counsel Gobind Singh Deo said this on Thursday (July 21) while cross-examining prosecution witness Mohd Syahmeizy Sulong, the MACC investigating officer (IO) in charge of the criminal breach of trust (CBT) investigation into Syed Saddiq.
The MACC obtained the consent to prosecute — which was needed to charge the former Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia youth chief in court — from Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin on Jan 4 last year. Syed Saddiq, however, was only charged on July 22, 2021, which further fuelled speculation that the charges were politically motivated.
Gobind: You are an investigating officer. You were given instructions to prosecute. You don't have the power not to [proceed to] prosecute.
Mohd Syahmeizy: Correct.
Gobind: In this case, were you given instructions to hold the prosecution first?
Mohd Syahmeizy: No.
Gobind: This is because you want to use the consent to prosecute to threaten (ugut) him, to tell him, 'The consent is already given so you have to support [specific] leadership otherwise you will be charged'.
Mohd Syahmeizy: No.
Gobind then told the court that Syed Saddiq was alerted by the MACC at least four times to be prepared to go to court to be charged, but Mohd Syahmeizy said he was not aware of this as he had never contacted the young politician for that.
Gobind: He was called at least four times to be prepared to come to court to be charged, [but each time the prosecution] did not materialise.
Mohd Syahmeizy: I don't know about that.
Gobind: That is to give some kind of pressure on Syed Saddiq. Agree or not?
Mohd Syahmeizy: Disagree.
During his testimony a day earlier, Mohd Syahmeizy said the delay in charging Syed Saddiq was because he had to "synchronise" the witness statements from five different investigation papers that the agency had opened to look into the Muar member of parliament's (MP) alleged wrongdoings. He also revealed that there were still ongoing investigations into the MP.
In his cross-examination on Thursday, Gobind asked Mohd Syahmeizy why the MACC then went ahead to charge Syed Saddiq, given that there were investigations still ongoing.
Mohd Syahmeizy said the investigation within his purview was only the CBT charge, which he said was "fair and not biased" and was completed on Jan 4. However, he said he had to wait before proceeding with the charge to see if his case overlapped with any other immediate investigations.
Gobind: But you went on with the charge despite this?
Mohd Syahmeizy: I acted on instructions.
Gobind: I say to you that you are not telling the truth. You were told to wait for instructions by higher-ups to arrest him.
Mohd Syahmeizy: [I had to] wait until other investigations were completed.
'Decision to withdraw money was a collective call'
The court previously heard that the RM1 million at the heart of the CBT charge against Syed Saddiq was spent for party purposes, mainly on Covid-19 assistance, and Ramadan and Hari Raya-related programmes.
During cross-examination, Gobind put to Mohd Syahmeizy that the decision to withdraw the money was not solely Syed Saddiq's decision — as Mohd Syahmeizy indicated during his earlier testimony — but a collective one by the youth wing's leadership, to which Mohd Syahmeizy agreed.
Gobind: There were five people in the top leadership and they made collective decisions for the good of the party, especially when it was a serious issue like Covid-19?
Mohd Syahmeizy: Correct.
Gobind: It doesn't make sense that, if not for one person's instruction, the money would not be withdrawn to help others, [because] it was a collective decision to help people in need.
Mohd Syahmeizy: Correct.
However, during re-examination by DPP Wan Shaharuddin, the IO maintained that Syed Saddiq was the one who had instructed for the money to be withdrawn.
Syed Saddiq has been charged with abetting Rafiq, Bersatu youth wing Angkatan Bersatu Anak Muda's former assistant treasurer, in committing CBT involving RM1 million of funds belonging to the party. The offence allegedly took place in March 2020, when Syed Saddiq was chief of the youth wing. If found guilty of the charge, which is framed under Section 406 of the Penal Code, Syed Saddiq could be jailed for up to 10 years, whipped and fined.
Aside from the CBT charge, Syed Saddiq has also been accused under Section 403 of misusing RM120,000 in party contributions in 2018, an offence that is punishable by up to five years in jail, whipping and fine.
He is also facing two money laundering charges involving two transactions of RM50,000 each — money that was believed to be proceeds of unlawful activities. He allegedly committed the offence via his Maybank Islamic account and his Amanah Saham Bumiputera account on June 16 and 19, 2018, respectively.
The latter two charges are framed under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001. Each of the offences carries a maximum jail term of 15 years, and a fine of not less than five times the amount involved.
The trial before Judicial Commissioner Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid continues on Friday.