KUALA LUMPUR (June 1): Prosecutors of Sabah's ‘Ops Water’ graft case have filed an appeal against the ‘lenient’ sentence imposed on former Sabah Water Department director Ag Mohd Tahir Mohd Talib, who was found guilty on May 19 in one of Sabah’s largest money laundering cases, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said in a statement on Monday.
An appeal had also been filed on May 25 against the acquittals and discharge of Ag Mohd Tahir’s wife, Fauziah Piut, and former Sabah Water Department deputy director Lim Lam Beng, the MACC added.
The Kota Kinabalu Special Corruption Sessions Court handed Ag Mohd Tahir a concurrent eight-year jail sentence and a RM284.3 million fine after finding him guilty of 12 money laundering charges involving about RM49.7 million. The court allowed a stay of execution pending appeal, with existing bail maintained.
His spouse Fauziah, 61, was acquitted of 19 money laundering charges of about RM2.2 million, while Lim, 72, was acquitted of four charges involving some RM2.3 million. The court also found Ag Mohd Tahir and Fauziah not guilty of two joint charges involving assets worth about RM6.5 million.
The high-profile Ops Water case followed investigations in October 2016 into alleged money laundering and assets believed to be proceeds of illegal activity involving senior Sabah Water Department officials. All three were charged on Dec 29, 2016 with trials running for almost a decade before sentencing on May 19, 2026.
The court also ordered that applications for forfeiture of assets under Section 55 of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 involving all three accused be deferred until the appeal process is fully completed. The status quo of all case exhibits is also to be maintained, and any return of assets may only be carried out after the final disposal of the appeal in the higher courts, the MACC statement read.