Kuala Lumpur: The Court of Appeal today upheld former Sabah Infrastructure Development Minister Datuk Peter Anthony’s conviction and sentence of three years imprisonment and a RM50,000 fine for falsifying documents related to a maintenance and service contract at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) 11 years ago. This decision was made by a panel of three judges, Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, and Datuk Azmi Ariffin, who dismissed Peter’s appeal against his conviction and sentence handed down by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on May 26, 2022. The court ordered the Melalap Assemblyman to begin serving his sentence immediately.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Peter, aged 54, filed an appeal to overturn his conviction and the accompanying three-year prison sentence and RM50,000 fine on April 19, 2023. However, this appeal was dismissed by the High Court on April 18, 2023, marking it as his final appeal. Despite the ongoing legal proceedings, Peter had already paid the fine.

Peter was charged in his role as managing director of Syarikat Asli Jati Sdn Bhd with forging a letter from the office of UMS Deputy Vice-Chancellor, dated June 9, 2014. The forgery involved inserting a false statement to use the letter for fraudulent purposes. The offence allegedly took place at the office of the Prime Minister’s principal private secretary at the Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya between June 13 and August 21, 2014.

Justice Mohamed Zaini, when delivering the judgment, emphasized that the appellate court should not alter the factual findings of the lower court unless those findings are proven incorrect. He noted the importance of the credibility of witnesses and the impressions formed by the court that directly assessed their honesty and accuracy. “We are convinced that the Sessions Court provided a thorough judicial evaluation of the evidence, and we find no errors that would justify intervention by the appellate court. Therefore, we conclude that the conviction of the accused is sound. We dismiss the appellant’s appeal and uphold the conviction and sentence imposed by the Sessions Court,” he stated.

Justice Mohamed Zaini further elaborated that the appellate court agreed with the Sessions Court’s determination that Peter had forged the letter to commit fraud. He deceived several key figures, including third prosecution witness Mohd Shukur Mohd Din, former UMS deputy vice-chancellor Professor Dr Shariff Abdul Kadir S. Omang, and former UMS Registrar Datuk Abdullah Mohd Said, into believing the letter was related to the Smart Partnership project. Additionally, the court found that Peter used the letter to mislead Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak into thinking he had UMS’s support for securing the Mechanical and Electrical Systems contract through direct negotiations for five years, even though the contract had already been awarded to REMT through an open tender process.

The judge also concurred with the Sessions Court’s finding that Peter was aware the M and E contract underwent an open tender process, as his company was one of the bidders. Former vice-chancellor UMS Professor Datuk Dr Mohd Harun Abdullah testified that Peter reprimanded him when their company was not awarded Phase 2B of the M and E contract. The Sessions Court appropriately considered Peter’s subsequent behavior as a relevant fact under Section 8 of the Evidence Act 1950.