Deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Farah Ezlin Yusop Khan said the former Bersatu Youth chief obtained the money via two fundraising events held in Muar and Ampang in early April that year.
“He told donors that the 14th general election was the mother of all polls and that the odds were stacked against the opposition. He pleaded for their help to cross the finish line,” she said.
The money was kept in a Bersatu Youth bank account.
She said Bersatu Youth’s former assistant treasurer, Rafiq Hakim Razali, was then instructed to transfer RM120,000 into Syed Saddiq’s personal account in four separate transactions before the start of the election campaign on April 28 that year.
Farah said Syed Saddiq then transferred RM100,000 in two tranches on June 15 and 16 into his Amanah Saham Bumiputera investment account.
“What transpired was a change in intention as the money remained untouched during the entire campaign period and was only dealt with later,” she said before a three-member bench chaired by Justice Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim.
Also hearing the appeal were Justices Azman Abdullah and Noorin Badaruddin.
Farah was submitting on a charge of dishonest misappropriation of RM120,000 which the former youth and sports minister was found guilty of by Justice Azhar Abdul Hamid in the High Court.
Farah said Syed Saddiq’s defence that the money was disbursement of election expenses could not hold water as it was an afterthought.
“This defence only came about during trial after he was caught,” she added.
On Nov 9, 2023, Syed Saddiq was also found guilty of abetting in criminal breach of trust (CBT) amounting to RM1 million. The High Court imposed a three-year jail term and ordered that Syed Saddiq receive one stroke of the rotan.
He was also sentenced to two years in jail and another stroke of the cane on the misappropriation charge and an additional two-year imprisonment term for each of the money laundering offences.
Syed Saddiq was also fined RM10 million.
The court ordered that the jail terms for CBT and dishonest misappropriation run consecutively, while those handed down for money laundering offences run concurrently.
As a result, Syed Saddiq would have to serve seven years in jail. The sentence was stayed by the High Court pending the former Muda president’s appeal.
In his 22-page grounds of judgment released on Nov 28 last year, Azhar said the sentences pronounced on Syed Saddiq were not excessive as the court had taken into account his status as a public figure and a role model for young people.
Today, DPP Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin also submitted that Syed Saddiq’s conviction of abetment in CBT should be affirmed as he had instructed Rafiq to withdraw the money in 2020.
“We did not charge Rafiq for CBT as he acted based on the command of the appellant,” he said, adding that Syed Saddiq was the mastermind in the commission of the offence.
In response, counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said the trial judge did not properly consider the evidence put forward by the defence. He said this was in breach of Section 182A of the Criminal Procedure Code.
“This oversight meant that the appellant did not get a fair trial due to the serious misdirection by the trial judge,” he said.
He described the judgment as “non-speaking”, saying it was tilted in favour of the prosecution.
Hisyam said the judgment did not discuss why the trial judge found Syed Saddiq guilty of the two money laundering charges.
The senior lawyer also said the jail term imposed was manifestly excessive and urged the court to order imprisonment for one day should the bench decide to affirm the conviction.
Counsel Yusof Zainal Abiden, a former solicitor-general, also appeared for Syed Saddiq.
The bench has reserved judgment.