Syed Saddiq’s claim of ignorance over RM1mil withdrawal unreasonable, says High Court

The Star

It was unreasonable for Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who was the top leadership of his former party Bersatu's youth wing Armada, not to know that RM1mil was withdrawn from the wing's bank account, says the High Court.  Justice Azhar Abdul Hamid said this in his finding of Syed Saddiq's guilt on the criminal breach of trust (CBT) charge which he was convicted of on Nov 9, 2023.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/4f2sc5pt  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00The High Court in Kuala Lumpur ruled that it was unreasonable for Syed Sadiq Syed Abdul Rahman,

00:07then leader of Bersatu's youth wing Armada, to be unaware of the withdrawal of 1 million ringgit

00:12from the wing's bank account. Justice Ajar Abdul Hamid made this statement on Friday,

00:17while delivering his findings on Syed Sadiq's criminal breach of trust,

00:21CBT conviction, from November 9th, 2023. The full grounds of judgment, dated November 28th,

00:28were published on the Judiciary's website, more than a year after the Court's decision.

00:34Syed Sadiq was charged with abetting former Armada Assistant Treasurer Rafiq Hakim Razali,

00:39who was entrusted with 1 million ringgit of Armada's funds, but allegedly misappropriated

00:45them. Additionally, he faced a second charge of misappropriating 120,000 ringgit from Armada

00:52Bumi Bersatu Enterprise's Maybank Islamic account, by instructing Rafiq to dispose of the funds.

00:58He also faced two counts of money laundering, involving 50,000 ringgit transfers each from

01:03his Maybank Islamic account into his Amanah Saham Bumi Putra account, believed to be proceeds from

01:09unlawful activities. Regarding Syed Sadiq's claim that the deposits into his personal accounts were

01:14reimbursements for using his own money, Justice Azhar found no evidence supporting this assertion.

01:20The Court sentenced Syed Sadiq to 7 years in prison, a 10 million ringgit fine, and 2 strokes

01:26of the cane for the 4 charges, including abetting CBT, misappropriation, and money laundering. He

01:33is the first politician to be facing the whipping sentence applicable to offenders below 50.

01:39In delivering the sentence, Justice Azhar emphasized that Syed Sadiq, as an MP and

01:44role model for youth, is held to higher standards and should set a positive example.

01:50He noted that Syed Sadiq's young age was considered in sentencing,

01:54allowing him time to reflect, learn, and correct his mistakes.

01:58Syed Sadiq, co-founder of the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance, MUDA, has since resigned

02:04as MUDA President and is appealing his conviction and sentence. The High Court granted a stay of

02:10execution pending the appeal, which is scheduled for mention at the Court of Appeal on January 16, 2025.

02:24you

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