Prosecution says will prove ‘malicious’ offences as Syed Saddiq’s trial begins

The prosecution in the case of Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who faces four charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT), misappropriation of funds and money laundering, today said it would prove that all of the offences allegedly committed by the Muar MP were dishonest and done with malicious intent.

Deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, who led the prosecution team, said his team would rely on a combination of direct evidence, circumstances, and documents in proving the case against the accused.

“The evidence under Sections 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the Evidence Act 1950 is not in favour of the accused.

“We will also not use the presumption under Section 409A of the Penal Code in proving our case against the accused later,” he said, reading the prosecution’s opening statement on the first day of the trial before High Court judge Azhar Abdul Hamid.

Syed Saddiq, 29, wearing a blue batik shirt, arrived at the Kuala Lumpur court complex at about 9am.

After reading the opening statement, the prosecution called its first witness, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer Mohd Taufik Awaluddin, 30, to testify.

Syed Saddiq was represented by lawyers Gobind Singh Deo, Ambiga Sreenevasan, Haijan Omar and Lim Wei Jeit.

Earlier, Wan Shaharuddin informed the court that the prosecution had filed two amended charges related to CBT by removing the word “cheating” and replacing it with “dishonest”.

The two charges were then read back to Syed Saddiq, who pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

Syed Saddiq was charged as Bersatu’s then Youth chief, entrusted with the control of the wing’s funds, with abetting Rafiq Hakim Razali, the wing’s assistant treasurer at the time, with CBT of RM1 million.

He was accused of committing the offence at CIMB Bank, Menara CIMB KL Sentral, Jalan Stesen Sentral 2, on March 6, 2020, charged under Section 406 of the Penal Code which provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years and a whipping, with the possibility of a fine upon conviction.

For the second charge, Syed Saddiq was accused of misusing property for himself, namely RM120,000 from the Maybank Islamic account belonging to Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise by causing Rafiq to dispose of the money.

He was accused of committing the offence at Malayan Banking, Jalan Pandan 3/6A, Taman Pandan Jaya between April 8 and 21, 2018, and charged under Section 403 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of between six months and five years, with whipping and a fine upon conviction.

He also faces two counts of engaging in money laundering activities, in two transactions of RM50,000 believed to be the proceeds of unlawful activities from his Maybank Islamic account into his Amanah Saham Bumiputera account.

Syed Saddiq was accused of committing the offence at a bank in Jalan Persisiran Perling, Taman Perling, Johor Bahru, on June 16 and 19, 2018.

The charges were framed under Section 4 (1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, punishable under Section 4 (1) of the same law, which provides for a maximum imprisonment of 15 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount or the proceeds of illegal activities, upon conviction.