PUTRAJAYA: Former Sabah infrastructure development minister Datuk Peter Anthony has filed his final appeal to overturn his three years' jail and RM50,000 fine for corruption.
According to his notice of appeal, Anthony filed the document through Messrs Deva & Associates at the High Court yesterday.
The notice said the 52-year-old politician was not satisfied with the High Court judgment that upheld his conviction and sentence for forging a document to secure project for his company in 2014.
The document was in regards to a purported collaboration with Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) to fund and set up a mechanical and engineering technical training centre via direct negotiation in July 2014.
On Tuesday, High Court judge Datuk Ahmad Bache ruled that the Sessions Court judge did not err when sentencing Anthony after finding him guilty of using a forged letter from the UMS deputy vice-chancellor's office with the intention to deceive the prime minister's principal private secretary.
Ahmad said the defence led by lawyer S. Devanandan had failed to cast reasonable doubt on the prosecution's case.
He agreed with the trial judge that the accused's statements were all afterthoughts as he failed to reveal everything during investigation by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
The court also dismissed Anthony's application to reduce his sentence.
The court, however, allowed Anthony's application for a stay of execution pending appeal at the Appellate Court.
Anthony was accused of committing the offence at the Perdana Putra Building in Putrajaya between June 13, 2014, and Aug 21, 2014.
The former Parti Warisan Sabah vice-president was also charged with an alternative count of using a false document as genuine, namely a letter from the office of the deputy vice-chancellor of UMS dated June 9, 2014, which had a false statement in the title of the letter, and he had reason to believe that the document is false, at the same place and time.
The charges were framed under Section 468 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum seven-year imprisonment and a fine upon conviction.