KUALA LUMPUR – The panel of judges from the Court of Appeal, which acquitted Muda MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman of all four criminal charges linked to the misappropriation of Armada Bersatu funds, agreed that he was legally entitled to the money collected from the donors in his political campaign during the 14th general elections in 2018.
Syed Saddiq was acquitted following a previous ruling by Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Justice Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid on November 9, 2023, where he was convicted and sentenced to seven years’ jail, two strokes of the cane, and a RM10 million fine for all four charges of abetting criminal breach of trust (CBT) and money laundering.
According to the grounds of judgment, Justice Datuk Noorin Badaruddin said that Justice Azhar has erred in considering the facts of the transfer of money into Syed Saddiq’s personal account and the timing of the transfer.
Justice Noorin said that it is logical for expenses to be incurred in advance before April 29, 2018, as seen by the report filed by the Muar MP to the Election Commission (EC). The panel also found that the judge erred in holding that the donation could only be spent during the official campaign period – which is from April 28, 2018 until May 9, 2018.
“We further find that there was no requirement for the Appellant (Syed Saddiq) to justify his request for the transfer,” she said in the grounds of judgment.
“According to the Appellant, the money was his as the money was derived from his plea to the donors to assist him with his political campaign. He is therefore legally entitled to the money.
“Even if his belief that he is entitled to the money is wrong – which we find he is not – the offence cannot be said to be committed.”
Prosecution witnesses might have been pressured
Justice Noorin also contended that the appellate court found merit in the defense’ argument that a prosecution witness -former Armada assistant treasurer Rafiq Hakim Razali – was pressured in providing his evidence.
This is after the panel’s examination of his evidence found inconsistency in many aspects during the examination in chief, cross-examination and re-examination.
The judge also said that the panel agrees with the defense’s contention that the evidence of these witnesses being pressured give rise to a strong, reasonable inference that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) might have also exerted improper pressure upon Rafiq – who was labelled as prosecution witness 13 (PW13) – to tailor his evidence to suit the prosecution case.
“We agree with the defense’s contention that it cannot be dismissed PW13 had succumbed to the pressure of being investigated and interrogated to the extent that he admitted he had committed criminal breach of trust (CBT) when questioned by the prosecution and gave evidence against the Appellant (Syed Saddiq),” said Justice Noorin.
The panel judge also viewed that if the donations were deposited directly into Syed Saddiq’s account, he would not have to face the drawback of being charged for dishonest misappropriation of money that he was entitled to.
Justice Noorin also said that Justice Azhar did consider Syed Saddiq’s defence counsel submission, adding that when an accused has been instructed to submit orally or to file written submissions, the court must not disregard it.
“It is unfortunate that nowhere in the judgment did the learned trial judge direct his attention to the submission made on behalf of the Appellant on the core features of the defense and issues.
“It is our considered view that failure to consider the submissions made by the counsel representing the Appellant is an appealable error, a misdirection by way of non-direction which had occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice.”
On Wednesday, a three-member Court of Appeal panel comprising Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, Datuk Azman Abdullah, and Datuk Noorin Badaruddin allowed Syed Saddiq’s appeal, setting aside the convictions and sentence handed down by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on November 9, 2023.
Yesterday, Justice Noorin, in delivering the judgment, said the prosecution failed to prove dishonest intent in the CBT charge involving RM1 million.
“The prosecution failed to establish any dishonest intention on the part of Syed Saddiq when he directed the withdrawal of the RM1 million from Armada’s funds,” she said, adding that instructing a withdrawal does not equate to disposal of property.
She further ruled that the act of instructing or ordering a transaction did not satisfy the requirement of actus reus — the physical element of a crime — and highlighted that the High Court had erred in evaluating both evidence and legal elements of the charges.
As a result, Syed Saddiq was acquitted and discharged of all four charges: one count of abetting a criminal breach of trust, one count of misappropriation of RM120,000, and two counts of money laundering involving RM50,000 each.
The charges stemmed from alleged offences between 2018 and 2020. The CBT charge involved Syed Saddiq allegedly abetting then-Armada assistant treasurer Rafiq Hakim Razali in misusing RM1 million in party funds at CIMB Bank KL Sentral on March 6, 2020, under Section 406 of the Penal Code.
He was also accused of misappropriating RM120,000 from Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise’s Maybank Islamic account between April 8 and 21, 2018, in Taman Pandan Jaya, under Section 403 of the Penal Code.
The money laundering charges were brought under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act for two transactions of RM50,000 each from his Maybank Islamic account to his Amanah Saham Bumiputera account on June 16 and 19, 2018, in Johor Bahru.
The acquittal followed Syed Saddiq’s appeal filed on December 12 last year, supported by an 18-ground petition to overturn both convictions and sentence, which included seven years’ imprisonment, two strokes of the cane, and a RM10 million fine. – June 26, 2025