The three-man bench chaired by Rohana Yusuf unanimously dismissed the application filed by Md Zaki Othman, 55, to review the decision of the previous panel (Court of Appeal) in upholding the conviction and sentence imposed on him by the High Court.
Justice Rohana said the panel was satisfied that the application did not meet the threshold requirements by the applicant.
“We are not sitting here today to revisit all the issues which had been raised and canvassed by the appellant, therefore the application is rejected,” said Rohana who sat with Justices Yaacob Md Sam and Rhodzariah Bujang.
Zaki, who was represented by lawyers Harjinderjit Singh and Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, filed a judicial review to set aside the Court of Appeal’s decision on Aug 8, 2017.
The decision had upheld his conviction and imprisonment on charges of soliciting and accepting bribes in the form of payment for a furniture set as an inducement to help Abdul Salam Ahmad obtain a letter of intent for a project.
Zaki was charged with committing the offence at his house at Jalan Austin Perdana 2/11, Austin Perdana Park at 10am on Dec 14 2007, and at Europe Asia Furniture Expo Sdn Bhd, Jalan Universiti, Petaling Jaya, on Nov 28, 2007.
On Aug 8, 2017, the Court of Appeal dropped three charges of soliciting three branded watches, namely Rolex, IWC and Hublot worth RM114,680 from Abdul Salam as inducement to help approve and speed up claims on progress payments in relation to a contract, after allowing Zaki’s appeal.
On May 30, 2016, High Court judicial commissioner Ab Karim Ab Rahman reduced the jail sentence from 27 years to 10 years against Zaki on five counts of corruption after allowing his appeal.
The High Court sentenced him to two years’ jail on each count and ordered that the sentences run concurrently.
On April 12 2012, he was sentenced by the Sessions Court to four years’ jail and fined RM168,000 in default of 18 months’ jail for the first charge. He was given five years’ jail and fined RM108,500 or 20 months’ jail on the second charge.
On the third charge, he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and fined RM153,000 or 20 months’ jail. On the fourth charge, he was given a six-year jail term and fined RM164,900 or 24 months’ imprisonment, and on the fifth charge he was given seven years’ jail and fined RM300,000 or 30 months’ imprisonment.
The jail sentences totalled 27 years while the total fine was RM894,400 after the Sessions Court ordered all the sentences to run consecutively.
Deputy public prosecutor Tengku Intan Suraya Tengku Ismail appeared for the prosecution.