PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal (CoA) has postponed its decision on the appeals of former Rural and Regional Development Ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohd Arif Ab Rahman and his son, Ahmad Zukhari, who are contesting their convictions and jail sentences for a RM627,000 bribery case.
A three-judge panel led by Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, alongside Datuk Lim Chong Fong and Datuk Azizul Azmi Adnan, announced the postponement after hearing arguments from both the prosecution and the defence.
Arif, 67, and his son, 42, were represented by lawyers Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik and M. Athimulan, respectively. The prosecution was led by deputy public prosecutors Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin and Norzilati Izhani Zainol @ Zainal.
During submissions, Teh said there was no credible evidence that showed Arif had abetted with his son to commit the offence.
However, Wan Shaharuddin said there was evidence from the 20th prosecution witness, Datuk Mohd Safian Mohd Salleh, the director Syarikat Wazlina Sdn Bhd, that he was an acquaintance to the father and son.
"SP20 testified that the second appellant (Ahmad Zukhairi) had told him that his father would be transferred to the ministry and can 'oversee' projects.
"This is not by coincidence because the first appellant (Arif) was indeed transferred to the ministry and subsequently informed his son that there was 'job on the way'," said Wan Shaharuddin.
After proceedings, Teh said Nov 7 was fixed for case management to set a date for the judges to deliver their decision.
On Nov 14, 2018, the Sessions Court found Arif guilty of abetting Ahmad Zukhari, to accept SG$200,000 (RM627,833) from Safian. https://www.nst.com.my/news/crime-courts/2018/11/431048/former-sec-gen-a...
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 CoA.