The Federal Court has been recently told that Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman should be held fully accountable for an alleged RM1 million criminal breach of trust involving ARMADA, the youth wing of BERSATU. Prosecutors described him as the mastermind behind the alleged scheme, asserting that he directed others to withdraw party funds for dishonest purposes.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin argued that former ARMADA assistant treasurer Rafiq Hakim Razali acted under explicit instructions from Syed Saddiq, withdrawing the funds only because he was told to do so. The testimony of Rafiq, identified as the 13th prosecution witness, was corroborated by three other witnesses, including a supplier and two former ARMADA exco members, all of whom testified that their actions followed directives from Syed Saddiq and that they had no motive to fabricate evidence.
The prosecution contended that the Court of Appeal had erred by selectively assessing evidence and failing to consider the testimonies of key witnesses, who consistently stated they acted in good faith. Wan Shaharuddin emphasized that circumstantial evidence strongly linked Syed Saddiq to the transactions and that the appellate court overlooked the broader context of the events.
Syed Saddiq was previously convicted by the High Court and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment, two strokes of the cane, and a RM10 million fine. However, the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction, acquitting him on all counts. The prosecution maintained that the appellate court did not fully evaluate the evidence, ignoring the reasons behind Syed Saddiq’s instructions to withdraw the ARMADA funds.
Further, Wan Shaharuddin argued that the former youth and sports minister was also responsible for abetment, misappropriation, and money laundering connected to the same funds. He criticized the appellate court for taking what he described as a shortcut, relying on selective evidence that favored acquittal rather than conducting a comprehensive review of all available material.
The Federal Court panel, led by Court of Appeal President Datuk Abu Bakar Jais alongside Federal Court judges Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali and Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, will continue hearing the case, with the defence set to present its submissions tomorrow. Syed Saddiq’s legal team, including prominent counsel Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik and Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, will respond to the prosecution’s arguments regarding the alleged orchestration of the RM1 million ARMADA funds.
FlyingBird (aicashflow7@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact creator@newswav.com.