Umno MP to go to jail after court upholds conviction
(The Malaysian Insider) – Umno’s Sabak Bernam MP Datuk Abdul Rahman Bakri will have to serve his jail sentence after the Shah Alam High Court upheld today his conviction March for making false claims.
Abdul Rahman and his aide Rosli Busro were sentenced by a Sessions Court in March to six years’ jail and fined RM400,000 each for making false claims.
But the court had then granted them a stay of execution pending appeal.
Today, Shah Alam High Court judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir dismissed the appeal and also rejected an application for a stay of execution.
The judge also ordered the sentence carried out immediately.
In March the Sessions Court had found the two guilty on eight counts of making false claims totalling RM80,000 for events that never took place four years ago.
The Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmaker was accused of committing the offences while a Sungai Air Tawar assemblyman before Election 2008.
The 47-year-old was charged under Section 11(c) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 in November 2009 with falsely claiming RM10,000 each time between January 21 and February 4, 2008.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had said in March that Abdul Rahman had been stripped of his party divisional post, but remained an Umno MP.
In making his ruling today, Akhtar dismissed arguments made by Abdul Rahman’s lawyer to reject the testimony of two witnesses — Mohd Harmizar and Rizam ismail — because it was alleged that they were also accomplices in the criminal acts.
“I have read the testimony of the two witnesses and I do not consider them accomplices,” said the judge, who added that he considered the two men merely followed Abdul Rahman’s instructions.
He added that the accounts given by the two men were corroborated by other witnesses.
Akhtar said it was clear that Abdul Rahman and Rosli had the intention to make the false claims, and this was proven when the money was used for their own purposes and not stated in their claims.
Abdul Rahman, 47, had been found guilty of making claims from his allocation as state legislator for events and activities that did not take place.
The claims were for the purchase of gifts, souvenirs and meals for events listed as Program Motivasi Pelajar Peringkat Dewan Undangan Negeri Sungai Air Tawar; Program Mesra Rakyat dan Hari Keluarga di Dewan Simpang 4 Bagan Nakhoda Omar (BNO); Program Forum Perdana Peringkat Mukim BNO; Program Mesra Rakyat dan Sambutan Maulud Nabi and Program Mesra Rakyat Hari Keluarga Guru Kemas.
