PUTRAJAYA: The hearing of the appeals by former Rural and Regional Development Ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohd Arif Ab Rahman and his son against their conviction and jail sentences for bribery charges scheduled today has been postponed.
A three-member bench of the Court of Appeal, comprising Justices Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, allowed the application by the duo's lawyer, Datuk Rajpal Singh, to postpone the hearing. This was after Rajpal informed the court that his clients were unwell and could not attend court today.
He said a letter had been submitted to the court yesterday notifying that Arif, who had chest pain on Saturday, was suffering from coronary artery disease and currently receiving treatment at a hospital while his son Ahmad Zukhari had tested positive for Covid-19.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Mukhzany Fariz Mohd Mokhtar did not object to the postponement application. The court fixed Aug 21 for the hearing of their appeals.
On Nov 14, 2018, the Sessions Court found Arif, 66, guilty of abetting his son, Ahmad Zukhari, to accept SG$200,000 (RM627,833) from Syarikat Wazlina Sdn Bhd director Mohd Safian Mohd Salleh.
He was charged with accepting the money as gratification for him and his son as an inducement for a hybrid solar system project in four remote islands off Sandakan, Sabah, worth RM57.5 million, which was awarded to Syarikat Eramaz (M) Sdn Bhd, an associate company of Syarikat Wazlina.
The Sessions Court sentenced him to three-years' jail and fined him RM3 million, in default three years' imprisonment.
Ahmad Zukhari, 41, a businessman, was sentenced to five years' jail and fined RM9.6 million, in default 10 years' jail, after the Sessions Court found him guilty of four counts of soliciting and accepting bribes from several projects involving the Rural Development Ministry in 2016.
They lost their appeals, which were dismissed by the High Court on March 23, 2021, prompting them to appeal to the Court of Appeal. – Bernama
#kw: Appeals postponed, Rural Development Ministry secretary-general, Mohd Arif Ab Rahman, Ahmad Zukhari, businessman, Court of Appeal, hybrid solar system project, bribery case.