He faced up to 25 years in jail on charges of cheating and corruption
 | Email this article |
 | Print article |
 | Feedback |
(KUALA LUMPUR) A Malaysian court acquitted a former Cabinet minister yesterday of graft charges in a prominent case that had briefly become the showcase of the government's fight against corruption.
 |
| Mr Muhammad Shafee: Says there was no evidence against his client |
Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Suraya Othman found the prosecution had failed to establish a case against Kasitah Gaddam, the former land and cooperative development minister, said his lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
Judge Suraya ruled that the prosecution had failed to call material witnesses and its star witness was of 'questionable character', Mr Muhammad Shafee said. It was not clear immediately if the prosecution will appeal the ruling.
Mr Kasitah had faced up to 25 years in jail on charges of cheating and corruption. His case began in 2004, shortly after then-prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over office with a pledge to crack down on endemic corruption.
Mr Kasitah owed a bank about RM11.5 million (S$4.7 million) in the mid-1990s, and is alleged to have attempted to repay the loan through a series of transactions via the Sabah Land Development Board (SLDB), a state government agency, of which he was then chairman.
The board is tasked with government land development projects in Sabah state.
The prosecution alleged that Mr Kasitah misused his position to force SLDB to sell 40 per cent of its shares in a plantation company in 1996 by convincing the government that failure to do so would cause losses to the board.
The shares were subsequently bought cheaply by Mr Kasitah through a front company, according to prosecutors.
Mr Muhammad Shafee said Mr Kasitah should never have been charged 'because there was no evidence against him'.
He said Mr Kasitah was made a scapegoat in the government's anti-corruption drive, adding that the court verdicts restored his credibility.
Mr Kasitah's case was a rare instance of a high- ranking official being taken to court for alleged corruption.
The pledge to end corruption was the main election platform of Mr Abdullah before he assumed the prime minister's office in 2003. But it yielded few results during the six years he was in office until April this year.
Apart from Mr Kasitah, the only other prominent catch was tycoon Eric Chia Eng Hock, charged with criminal breach of trust in connection with RM76.4 million missing from government-controlled Perwaja Steel.
Mr Chia was, however, acquitted in 2007 and died a year later at the age of 75. -- AP
No comments:
Post a Comment