KUALA LUMPUR: Muar member of parliament Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman was sentenced to seven years jail and two strokes of the cane for charges of abetting criminal breach of trust (CBT), misappropriation of property and two counts of money laundering.
High Court judge Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid also imposed a fine of RM10 million in default four years jail against the Muda president after he ruled that the defence had failed to cast reasonable doubt against the prosecution's case today.
The court sentenced him to three years jail and one stroke of the cane for abetting CBT involving RM1 million of the Bersatu Youth (Armada)'s funds.
The accused is also facing two years imprisonment and one stroke of the cane for misusing property for himself, namely RM120,000 from the Maybank Islamic Bhd account belonging to Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise.
Syed Saddiq also was sentenced to two years in jail and a fine of RM5 million in default two years jail for each money laundering charge. The court ordered the sentence to run concurrently.
However, the court allowed Syed Saddiq's application for a stay of execution pending his appeal at the Court of Appeal.
Earlier, counsel Haijan Omar who appeared for the accused pleaded for a minimum sentence by stating that his client was remorseful and regretted the offence.
"My client had contributed a lot for the nation when he served as a former youth and sports minister and the current Muar MP.
"While in office, he was tasked with leading the historic constitutional amendment known as Undi 18 in which the minimum voting age was lowered from 21 to 18.
"Syed Saddiq who is the youngest of four siblings and needs to support his parents.
"He is also a first offender," he said.
Syed Saddiq's lead defence lawyer Gobind Singh Deo added his client did not receive any benefit from the money related to the charges.
"Evidence also indicates that the money was used to assist people during the pandemic," he said.
Meanwhile, deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin asked the court to impose a deterrent sentence against the accused.
"This case involves public interest and the trust of the younger generation who voted for the accused.
"When you consider a sentence, public interest comes to play.
"Nowadays, too many politicians are accused of breaching trust and so on.
"We need a deterrent sentence so other politicians will think twice when they want to commit the same crime," he added.
On Oct 28 last year, Syed Saddiq was ordered to enter his defence after the court ruled that the prosecution had successfully adduced credible evidence proving each essential ingredient of the offences.
On July 22, 2021, Syed Saddiq was charged, as the then Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Armada wing chief who was entrusted with control of Armada funds, with abetting Bersatu assistant treasurer Rafiq Hakim Razalifor for committing criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM1 million of the organisation's funds.
He was also charged with misusing property for himself, namely RM120,000 from the Maybank Islamic Bhd account belonging to Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise, by causing Rafiq to dispose of the money.
He was also charged with two counts of engaging in money laundering in two transactions of RM50,000, believed to be proceeds of unlawful activities, from his Maybank Islamic Bhd account into his Amanah Saham Bumiputera account.