PUTRAJAYA: Former Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad will know tomorrow whether the Court of Appeal will overturn his jail sentence for corruption or uphold it.
The former Negri Sembilan menteri besar was sentenced to six years in jail and fined RM15.4 million by the High Court after he was found guilty of nine counts of bribery charges amounting to RM3 million in the Felda acquisition of Merdeka Palace Hotel & Suites in Kuching.
Isa is appealing to set aside the decision meted out by judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali (now Court of Appeal judge) on Feb 3, 2021.
A three-member bench appellate court chaired by Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera is expected to deliver the verdict at 9am.
Other members of the bench are Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and Datuk SM Komathy Suppiah.
On Oct 14, the court reserved its judgment after hearing lengthy submissions from both parties.
Isa's lawyer Datuk Salehuddin Saidin argued that his client should be acquitted and discharged on all the charges as the facts of the case showed there was no evidence that Isa received the kickbacks.
He asserted that the trial judge failed to give proper attention to all the evidence before the court and did not assess the overall evidence before arriving at a conclusion.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Afzainizam Abdul Aziz, however, argued that Isa had intended to get the gratification.
He submitted that although he (Isa) did not deal directly with businessman Ikhwan Zaidel in any of the transactions, the money was handled by Isa's former aide Muhammad Zahid Arip in a discreet manner.
He said the kickbacks were paid for fear that Isa might use his influence to cancel or delay payment for the acquisition of the hotel.
Nazlan, in his judgment, said the accused's defence was an afterthought, inconsistent and baseless.
He said the accused had failed to rebut his charges under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 that he had corruptly received the money.
The 73-year-old politician filed the notice of appeal against Nazlan's verdict of Feb 4, 2021.
He was allowed bail of RM1.5 million pending disposal of this appeal.
