Ag Mohd Tahir, a former director of the Sabah Water Department, has been found guilty of 12 charges under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act and has been sentenced to a total of 96 years in jail.
KOTA KINABALU, 19 Mei -- Keputusan kes pengubahan wang haram berprofil tinggi membabitkan bekas Pengarah Jabatan Air Negeri Sabah Ag Mohd Tahir Mohd Talib, isterinya dan bekas Timbalan Pengarah jabatan itu dijadual diputuskan di Mahkamah Sesyen hari ini.
Hakim Abu Bakar Manat dijangka menyampaikan keputusan sama ada Ag Mohd Tahir, 63, isterinya Fauziah Piut, 61, serta Lim Lam Beng, 72, dibebaskan atau disabitkan atas pertuduhan di bawah Akta Pencegahan Pengubahan Wang Haram, Pencegahan Pembiayaan Keganasan dan Hasil daripada Aktiviti Haram 2001. -- fotoBERNAMA HAK CIPTA TERPELIHARA KOTA KINABALU: Former Sabah Water Department director Ag Mohd Tahir Mohd Talib has been sentenced to a total of 96 years’ jail and fined RM284.3mil over his involvement in the worst corruption scandal the department has ever seen.
After almost 10 years, the proceedings finally ended with Judge Abu Bakar Manat making the ruling after finding Ag Mohd Tahir guilty of 12 charges under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act at the Sessions Court here yesterday. During the sentencing, Abu Bakar, who sat as the Special Corruptions Court judge, set eight years’ jail for each of Ag Mohd Tahir’s 12 offences.
The sentences are to run concurrently from yesterday, which means he is to serve eight years in jail. His wife, Fauziah Piut, and former state Finance Ministry adviser and retired deputy director of the department, Lim Lam Beng, were, however, found not guilty. Two joint charges involving Ag Mohd Tahir and Fauziah were also found to hold no grounds, and thus both were discharged and acquitted of the joint charges.
As for Ag Mohd Tahir’s first charge, he was fined RM120mil in default of 12 months’ jail, while he was fined RM50mil in default of six months’ jail and RM46mil in default of six months’ jail for the second and third charges. For the fourth to ninth offences, he was fined RM5mil in default of six months’ jail, respectively.
As for the 10th charge, he was fined RM21mil in default of six months jail, fined RM10mil in default of six months jail for the 11th charge and RM7.3mil in default of six months jail for the 12th charge. Abu Bakar said the judgment was made after striking a balance between the arguments and submissions from both the deputy public prosecutors and the defence counsels, as well as taking into account the latest trend in sentencing.
He allowed for a stay of execution of the jail and payment of fines pending appeal from the defence counsel, with the ongoing bail conditions to remain. Before delivering his verdict, he explained that the defence counsel had failed to raise doubts on the cases charged against Ag Mohd Tahir while the public prosecutors could not prove beyond reasonable doubt Fauziah and Lim’s involvement in the offences they were charged with.
On the application for forfeiture of property or confiscation of assets by the DPP, Abu Bakar said this matter would be adjourned until all appeals regarding the case have been settled. During mitigation, defence counsel led by Datuk Ansari Abdullah stated that Ag Mohd Tahir was a first offender and that he was suffering from health issues, including knee osteoarthritis, diabetes and hypertension.
He also said that due to the seizures and confiscation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Ag Mohd Tahir did not gain any substantial benefit from crimes committed. Ansari claimed that his client was made a scapegoat in the whole case, citing testimonies from witnesses throughout the trial which showed many others received money within the department, but they were either not charged or had been released after being charged.
Mahadi said that based on facts presented, the accused was a repeat offender because the crimes committed did not happen just once, but continuously until he was arrested in 2016. He called this case the rarest of the rare, while Haresh described it as the worst case imaginable, where money and properties, including jewellery and luxury vehicles amounting to hundreds of millions of ringgit, were seized throughout the duration of the investigation.
Sabah Water Department Corruption Scandal Antimoney Laundering Act Sentencing Witnesses Property Forfeiture Defense Counsel Mitigation Repeated Offender
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