A three-member Court of Appeal bench, chaired by Justice Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, said there was no merit in Che Sa’adon Che Yahya’s appeal.

“The conviction and the sentence imposed by the High Court are maintained,” said Zaidi, who sat with Justices Zaini Mazlan and Azmi Ariffin.

With today’s ruling, Che Sa’adon, 61, will lose his pension.

The bench did not commit Che Sa’adon to prison as he had already served his seven-day jail term and paid the RM10,000 fine ordered by the High Court in 2022.

Zaidi today said Che Sa’adon had failed to substantiate his complaint that the charge framed against him under Section 471 of the Penal Code was defective.

“Based on the notes of evidence during trial, it is clear from the questions posed to prosecution witnesses that the appellant knew he committed the offence sometime in September.

“The charge was not confusing as claimed,” he added.

Further, Zaidi said the prosecution had proved all the ingredients of the charge at the close of its case.

He said Che Sa’adon’s defence had failed to create any doubt in the prosecution’s case.

Che Sa’adon was charged with dishonestly using a forged receipt as genuine to make the claim from his office in Kuala Terengganu on Sept 17, 2016.

Those found guilty of the offence can be punished with a jail term of up to two years or a fine or both.

It was revealed during trial that a fishmonger had given 14 freshwater fish to Che Sa’adon for free.

The sessions court in 2021 fined the appellant RM5,000 after finding him guilty of the offence.

Che Sa’adon appealed against conviction while the prosecution sought to have the sentence enhanced.

The High Court raised the fine to RM10,000 and ordered him to serve a seven-day jail term.

He paid the fine and also spent a week in prison after failing to stay the sentence pending his appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Counsel Ahmad Nizam Mohamed and Zul Azhan Abu Bakar appeared for Che Sa’adon while deputy public prosecutors Farah Yasmin Salleh and Asraf Mohamed Tahir represented the prosecution.