PUTRAJAYA (March 17): The Court of Appeal on Monday upheld the forfeiture of RM44,000 cash from a Pahang Land and Mines Department enforcement assistant director, Syed Umar Khalil Syed Khalid, which was seized by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) from a washing machine at Syed Umar Khalil’s home 10 years ago.

A three-member bench, led by Datuk Azman Abdullah, upheld the forfeiture that had been allowed by the Sessions Court and the Pahang High Court.

“This court found that there is no merit in the defence’s appeal. This follows the defence’s bare assertion, which failed to rebut the prosecution’s case. The appellant was given the opportunity to rebut, but this court found that they were merely bare assertions.

“The appellant (Syed Umar Khalil) could have put an affidavit, following his wife’s claim that the money was in a labelled envelope — labelled as income from [his] father’s palm oil plantation. However, this was not placed in the appellant’s affidavit when it is a burden on him to say so. As a result, there is no merit, and the decision of the Sessions Court and the High Court is affirmed,” Azman said.

Sitting with Azman were Court of Appeal judges Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh.

The forfeiture against Syed Umar Khalil was done under Section 41(1) of the MACC Act 2009, where it allows forfeiture of valuables without prosecution.

On March 10, 2021, Pahang Sessions Court judge Datuk Ahmad Zamzani Mohd Zin allowed the forfeiture, while High Court judge Datuk Zainal Aznam Abdul Aziz upheld the decision on Dec 13, 2022.

Prior to this, the hearing of this appeal by the assistant director had been postponed several times, but the bench ordered the matter to proceed on Monday without Syed Umar Khalil’s presence.

Syed Umar Khalil’s counsel M Athimulan said the Sessions Court had erred in allowing the forfeiture without appreciating the evidence, as it relied on the evidence from the investigation by the investigating officer.

Athimulan also told the bench that, on a balance of probabilities, there was no evidence to prove that the RM44,000 was corrupt money, and he reiterated that the prosecution needs to prove a predicate offence before the forfeiture is made.

The lawyer further added that there was no evidence that the said money was from one of the illegal bauxite miners identified only as Goh.

At one point, judge Zaini asked Athimulan why the need to put the money in a washing machine unless it was for “laundered” purposes.

Deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Zander Lim Wai Keong in reply said the prosecution had obtained corroborative evidence from Goh (the illegal bauxite miner given protection) who admitted that the RM44,000 was for payments made between May and November 2015.

Lim further said that Syed Umar Khalil’s affidavit merely contains bare averments not detailing how the money was obtained.

“Furthermore, Syed Umar Khalil’s salary, as per his 2015 salary slips, shows a monthly income of RM4,432.57, and if we look, his annual income should be around RM53,000. Hence, this RM44,000 is approximately 85% of his annual salary. The prosecution asks where he got the sum (accounting for 85% of his salary) and why it was stored in the washing machine,” the DPP said.

Lim said Syed Umar Khalil’s wife's recorded statement also merely said the money, of which she denied knowing the sum, was originally placed on her make-up table, and she placed the cash in an envelope marked money from her father-in-law’s palm oil plantation.

“The wife said she had never seen the envelope prior to this, and cannot recognise the handwriting on it, as prior to this, her husband had brought the money and placed it on the table at the hall. The wife said she did not ask her husband where the money was from and placed it in the washing machine,” the DPP said.

The judges hearing the appeal questioned why Syed Umar Khalil did not contest that this was his father’s palm oil plantation money in his affidavit, and Lim admitted this was peculiar.

After a short recess, Azman announced the unanimous decision to uphold the forfeiture of the cash.

Syed Umar Khalil is also currently facing an ongoing graft trial in an unrelated matter.

It was reported that Syed Umar Khalil and assistant land officer Fadly Ab Malek were charged with accepting RM30,000 in gratification from an unlicensed bauxite miner.

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