Justice Jamil Hussin found following an inquiry that the arrested person was Aldrin Pratama Widjaja.

The inquiry was ordered by the Court of Appeal on Sept 26, 2023 to determine whether Aldrin was Paiman, who committed the offences about 20 years ago.

Delivering his broad grounds of judgment today, Jamil said the prosecution had failed to prove that Aldrin and Paiman were the same person. “The respondent (Aldrin) has created a doubt in the prosecution’s case,” he said.

Jamil also said the evidence tendered by the prosecution failed to show conclusively that Aldrin and Paiman were one and the same person.

“The biometric (fingerprint) report from the national registration department (JPN) only ‘almost matched’ that of Paiman. So it is not conclusive to say that the businessman is Paiman,” he said.

He also noted that two documents tendered by JPN revealed conflicting birth dates for Paiman.

“One is June 1, 1960 and the other is March 23, 1959. It boggles one’s mind,” the judge added.

Jamil said Aldrin had also tendered his Indonesian passport in court, which was found to be genuine.

“This was further confirmed by a letter from the Indonesian embassy,” he added.

Jamil said the prosecution produced a report when the respondent was arrested on Nov 13, 2021. However, the personal particulars contained in the report pointed to an Indonesian national named “Aldrin”, he said.

In 2022, the Court of Appeal stayed the execution of a warrant of committal taken out against Aldrin and set bail for him at RM1 million pending his appeal over the High Court’s denial of his right to prove his true identity.

One year later, it set aside the warrant and ordered the inquiry, saying it was unsafe to commit a person to prison when his identity was in dispute, adding that it involved his personal liberty.

On April 19, 2011, Paiman was sentenced to 26 years in prison by the sessions court after being found guilty on two counts of cheating and two counts of falsifying documents involving RM12 million belonging to victims in an investment fraud case between 2005 and 2006.

Then sessions court judge BS Jagjit Singh ordered the jail sentences to run concurrently, which meant he would have to serve 13 years.

Paiman appealed to the High Court and bail was set at RM750,000. He absconded after being released on bail.

On Nov 13, 2021, police arrested Aldrin, claiming that he was Paiman.

The case went on appeal to the High Court which ordered him to serve the jail sentence imposed by the sessions court.

Lawyers Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, Ishak Yusoff, Hanafiah Zakaria, and Tan Gin Han appeared for Aldrin while deputy public prosecutor Ashrof Adrin Kamarul acted for the prosecution.

Hisyam said today’s ruling revealed that their client was Aldrin, an Indonesian, and that the police would have to look for Paiman, who is still at large.

“We will return to the Court of Appeal and apply for the release of Aldrin’s bail bond of RM1 million,” he told FMT.