KUALA LUMPUR: Two former Felda senior officers, one of them a Datuk, were sentenced to 5 years and 2 years in jail respectively for committing criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM47.6 million from a fund for a fish breeding project four years ago.
Sessions Court’s Judge Allaudeen Ismail meted out the sentence against Muhammad Sufi Mahbub, 53, and Datuk Faizoull Ahmad, 57, a former deputy director-general and former director-general respectively – after the defendants failed to raise reasonable doubt against prosecution’s case.
Clad in casual outfits, the duo appeared calm when Allaudeen handed down the judgement.
Muhammad Sufi is accused of committing the offence of entering into two agreements with two separate companies, without approval from the Felda board of directors, worth RM25,999,000 and RM21,625,500 each.
The father-of-three was charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code for CBT, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years and a caning, upon conviction.
Meanwhile, Faizoull was slapped with two counts of abetting Muhammad Sufi to commit the offence, which falls under Section 109 of the Penal Code, and which was read together with Section 409 of the same Code, which carries a maximum 20 years and a caning, upon conviction.
The duo committed the alleged offences at Bangunan Wisma Lembaga Kemajuan Tanah Persekutuan (Felda), Jalan Perumahan Gurney, between Jan and July 2014.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Afzainizam Abdul Aziz and Farah Yasmin Salleh prosecuted, while Muhammad Sufi and Faizoull were represented by counsels Mohd Irwan Mohd Mubarak and Azad Bashir, respectively.
The court also granted a stay of execution against the duo pending their appeals.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had initiated a special operation to curb graft surrounding a sturgeon farming project, worth RM146.25 million, dubbed ‘Op Caviar’.
The Auditor-General’s Report Series 2 in 2015 had revealed that Felda did not obtain returns, assets or technology transfer from the project until June 30 last year.
The report said that sturgeon fish could not be sent to Malaysia (from overseas) as the aquaculture farm here had yet to be built since the Pahang Department of Environment had withdrawn its approval for the project site, citing adverse impact on the environment.
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