On November 9 last year, the High Court found Muar MP, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, guilty of 4 charges including abetting criminal breach of trust (CBT), misappropriating assets, and money laundering.
High Court Judge Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid expressed his opinion, saying that Syed Saddiq’s claim of not knowing about the use of the RM1 million was hard to believe, as reported by Berita Harian.
Criminal breach of trust
Azhar pointed out that as a political party leader, it’s unreasonable for him to be unaware of the money being withdrawn from the ARMADA BERSATU account.
He continued to explain how the court also disagreed with Syed Saddiq’s testimony that he was not informed of the actual amount of money withdrawn.
Instead, the court holds the view that the accused, as the Chief of ARMADA at the time and one of the trustees of the account, instructed the withdrawal of RM1 million without the approval of the BERSATU Supreme Leadership Council, which constitutes a criminal breach of trust.
He didn’t have proof that the money was meant to cover expenses
Azhar stated that the act of keeping and distributing the withdrawn cash without storing it in a secure place at the ARMADA office also raised an inference of malicious intent on the part of the accused.
Meanwhile, he also pointed out that Syed Saddiq didn’t provide any evidence showing that the money from the ARMADA dinner was meant to cover expenses he had already spent.
Instead, the judge said the funds were actually meant for the campaign of the former Minister of Youth and Sports.
“The timeline shows that the RM100,000 transfer from the Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise (ABBE) account to the accused’s (Syed Saddiq) personal bank account happened before the 14th General Election (PRU14).”
The money was transferred a month after the elections
Azhar then pointed out that the transfer of the money into the Bumiputera Unit Trust Fund (ASB) account of the Muar MP happened a month after the election.
He also mentioned that the bank statements shown didn’t include any withdrawals that could be seen as campaign expenses. So, the claim that the accused had used his own money doesn’t have any evidence to back it up.
“Without any proof to support this, the claim that the money was meant to reimburse the accused’s own funds is just not credible,” he said.
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know down in the comments!
Also read: BREAKING: High Court Finds Syed Saddiq GUILTY of 4 Charges of Money Laundering & Corruption
