3 fishy things that happened in Syed Saddiq’s trial

***Update*** (This article was originally published on June 27, 2022): On November 9, 2023, the KL High Court found Syed Saddiq guilty on four charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT), misappropriation of property, and money laundering. He has been sentenced to seven years in jail, two strokes of the rotan, and a fine of RM10 million, pending a stay of execution while his legal team appeals the court decision.

In Malaysian politics, it seems that no matter how much of a squeaky-clean image you have, you will eventually find yourself caught up in some kind of controversy. Muar MP Syed Saddiq found this out the hard way when he was recently called to face trial for two charges under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA).

Although politicians being charged for financial crimes isn’t a new thing in Malaysia, some were surprised considering Syed Saddiq is seen as one of the more transparent among our MPs. After all, he did declare his assets (including his cat Meow Meow), and we even ran a story detailing how every sen of the RM2 million MUDA flood donations were spent.

So what exactly is he supposed to have done to be charged with money laundering?

 

Syed Saddiq is accused of misusing funds during his time at BERSATU

In case you weren’t following the case, the accusations are as follows:

1. March 6th 2020: Syed Saddiq, then chief of BERSATU youth wing Armada and handler of Armada funds, had allegedly abetted (assisted) then-Armada assistant treasurer Rafiq Hakim Razali with criminal breach of trust (CBT) of RM1 million worth of Armada funds (Section 406 of the Penal Code).
2.  Between April 8 and 21, 2018: Syed Saddiq had allegedly misappropriated RM120,000 of Armada funds for his own use, resulting in Rafiq disposing of the money (Section 403 of the Penal Code).

These transactions were allegedly carried out without party approval.

However, we noticed that quite a few sus things happened during the trial. For one…

The prosecution mentioned the RM250,000 missing from Syed Saddiq’s safe

For context, some of you may remember that Syed Saddiq lodged a police report for RM250,000 that had gone missing from a safe in his house in 2020. But despite making the police report himself, Saddiq ended up being investigated instead. 

The investigating officer of that case, ASP Ahmad Marzuqi Ibrahim testified that he suspected Saddiq had conspired with two other individuals in the disappearance of the money, but could not complete the investigation as Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) did not respond to his request for information. He also stated that he could not find any evidence of a break-in.

How does this relate to the present day? Well, this incident was actually brought up as a point during the money laundering trial by the prosecutor, Wan Shaharuddin.

Which of course, led Saddiq’s defense counsel Gobind Singh to question the relevance of the missing RM250,000 to the current money laundering case. The judge even warned Wan Shaharuddin for bringing up matters irrelevant to the case:

“You are walking on thin ice.” – Azhar Abdul Hamid, High Court Judge

The MACC investigating officer didn’t know how many charges there were

Yes, we’re pretty sure it doesn’t help the case when the person investigating isn’t 100% sure what he’s there to investigate. During the trial, it appeared that there was much confusion on his part regarding the charges and the investigation of the RM250K; when asked by Gobind Singh, the MACC Officer said that there were only 3 charges when Gobind corrected and said it was 4.

And Gobind did not pull his punches, asking why an officer who had investigated it for three years did not know this. His response was simply that he was ‘confused’.

Taufik did testify that he does believe there is a connection between the RM1 million and the RM250,000 from his investigation, based on information from the previous IO, as well as other witness statements. But in any case, the judge threw out that argument, so it’s probably safe to conclude that for now, the RM250,000 has nothing to do with the money laundering case.

But the trial took a turn for the dramatic when it was revealed that…

Saddiq and his family were allegedly threatened

Perhaps one of the more shocking claims made during the trial was when Saddiq’s mother Sharifah Mahani took the stand. She and her husband were allegedly threatened with investigations and further possible action if Saddiq did not cooperate with the government:

“”Maybe it was said in jest but I was slighted (tersentap) when an officer said it would have been better to advise my son to follow the existing government so that my husband and I would no longer be investigated. That, I can’t forget.” – Sharifah Mahani

And to be fair, Saddiq’s entire family appear to have been largely cooperative with investigations, with every member declaring their assets early on. Because if the audits are to be believed, allegedly not a single sen of BERSATU money went into his pocket, and especially since his election campaign relied largely on fundraising.

Syed Saddiq is appealing the conviction, so… the truth will be revealed in time?

At the beginning of the entire drama, Syed Saddiq’s second lawyer Lim Wei Jiet claiming that the prosecution is grasping at straws to try to bury Saddiq:

“The prosecution are trying to collect statements that are not relevant at all in order to smear Syed Saddiq’s name and political image.” – Lim Wei Jiet, defense counsel for Syed Saddiq

After the guilty verdict, Syed Saddiq continues to maintain his innocence, saying that he was determined to “exhaust every legal avenue available” to clear his name. starting with an appeal. At the time of writing he was granted a stay of execution (aka a postponement) of his sentencing while pending the appeal.

But while we await the outcome of his appeal, let us know what you think!