PUTRAJAYA (June 26): Former Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) chairman Datuk Mohd Isa Abdul Samad will continue to serve his six-year jail sentence and be required to pay a fine of RM15.45 million.

This follows a three-member Federal Court bench on Friday dismissing Isa’s review application.

Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak (CJSS) Datuk Azizah Nawawi ruled that there was no miscarriage of justice in the decision by an earlier apex court panel on Feb 10, 2026, that would warrant a review.

“For these reasons, the review is dismissed,” she said.

Azizah sat with Federal Court judges Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah and Datuk P Ravinthran on the bench in hearing the review since Friday morning in the unanimous decision.

Azizah said that the prosecution’s appeal on Feb 5, 2026, was on the entire decision of the Court of Appeal, to set aside the conviction and sentence, and not specifically on the finding by the appellate court that there was a prima facie case as stipulated in the 24 grounds in the petition of appeal filed on June 26, last year.

She added that the written submissions by the deputy public prosecutor had dealt with the issues on Isa’s defence, and therefore, there was no issue of Isa’s defence not having submitted, as it was clearly before the court.

“Since the entire case on both conviction and sentence is on appeal before the Federal Court, it is up to the parties to decide on how to present their respective cases on this issue. In this case, as considered by Isa’s counsel, their focus was on defending the decision of the Court of Appeal and not addressing the merits of the defence before the Federal Court.

“Having chosen that course, Isa cannot now complain that he was denied the right to be heard. From the notes of proceedings, the Federal Court did not at any time prevent and restrict the applicant from making any argument before the decision was reserved,” the CJSS said.

Hence, Azizah said it cannot be said that Isa was not given a chance to argue on the merits of his defence.

On the issue of failure to allow Isa to mitigate before sentencing, the judge said the bench was of the considered opinion that there was no failure as the Federal Court was only exercising appellate jurisdiction while the finding of guilt was already made by the High Court.

“The mitigation had already been addressed at the High Court stage and did not require separate submission as the prosecution was not seeking an enhanced sentence.

“As of today, Isa had ample opportunity to present submission on Feb 5, 2026, and again before the final decision on Feb 10, 2026, but did not raise any objection or request further hearing on mitigation. It is therefore too late to allege a denial of the right to be heard.”

Azizah said the earlier Federal Court panel clearly had the power to re-evaluate the evidence presented in the High Court and the Court of Appeal before setting aside the appellate court’s decision and restoring the conviction and sentence imposed by the High Court.

“The right to appeal, the right to be heard, was fully given by the early Federal Court panel, but the applicant chose not to use that opportunity,” she said.

In a review at the apex level, parties have to satisfy Rule 137 of the Federal Court Rules — and prove that breach of natural justice has occurred — for the Federal Court to review its earlier decision.

Isa, 77, a former long-time Negeri Sembilan menteri besar, was initially convicted of nine counts of graft by the High Court on Feb 3, 2021, for receiving RM3.09 million in bribes to allow for the purchase of the Merdeka Palace & Suites in 2014. For this, he was sentenced to six years’ jail and fined RM15.45 million.

The offences occurred between July 21, 2014, and Dec 11, 2015, at Menara Felda, Platinum Park, Kuala Lumpur.

On appeal, the Court of Appeal reversed the High Court’s decision and granted Isa an acquittal on March 6, 2024.

However, a three-member Federal Court bench led by Datuk Nordin Hassan restored the conviction and sentence on Feb 10, this year, resulting in this review application being heard.

It is understood that Isa has yet to pay the fine.

On Friday, the defence alleged that there had been a breach of natural justice on their client, as the apex court had not allowed the defence to submit over their client’s defence.

Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, who appeared with M Athimulan and former Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, said that in deciding to acquit Isa, the Court of Appeal bench had found that there was no prima facie case, and hence the earlier apex bench’s decision on Feb 10 should have listened to the merits of Isa’s defence first before deciding to convict and then sentence the politician.

He said that when acquitting a person at the prima facie stage, the accused should be allowed to submit his defence, before the Federal Court finds him guilty.

“This has caused grave injustice, and this situation arises in the rarest of rare cases, where the apex court’s earlier bench disregards the defence and decides straight to convict and sentence the accused without hearing us,” Hisyam said.

Meanwhile, Athimulan said that when the earlier apex court made the decision, it did not allow the defence to submit over mitigation and only decided to restore the original sentence.

He added that what the apex court should have done was that after finding his client has a case to answer, to remit the matter to the Court of Appeal for a re-hearing.

However, he added not only was this not done, but the mitigation process had also been breached, as the defence had not been invited by the earlier bench to submit to argue on the sentence.

“This is the first time that the court has found someone guilty, and then went straight to give a sentence. It poses the pure legal duty of the court to invite parties to submit first before sentencing,” Athimulan said.

Zulkefli said that when the apex court found Isa guilty, he was not brought to the dock before sentencing, and this was a breach in the court procedure.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Aziz, who appeared with DPP Mohd Ariff Aizuddin Masrom, said that the apex court was right in their decision on Feb 10, and the defence had not shown any violation under Rule 137 of the Federal Court Rules to grant a review over the Feb 10 decision.

This follows Afzanizam said the apex court had rightfully decided on the conviction and sentence as it was satisfied that presumption of guilt had not been rebutted as the accused had not shown any evidence of rebuttal as shown in the court’s grounds.

“The prosecution when submitting its petition of appeal [to the earlier Federal Court bench] indicated that they were appealing the whole appellate court decision and there was no question that it was only appealing at the prima facie stage.

“The prosecution wanted to restore the conviction and sentence, and this was stated in the petition of appeal, so the defence should have been aware of the matter,” he said.

Afzanizam said there was no question of the apex court only finding fault during the prima facie stage, as the judgment by the top court indicated its full decision and reasoning to show its reasons for convicting.

Furthermore, the DPP said the defence should be faulted for not making any submissions in the defence or mitigation on Feb 5.

“The opportunity was given, but the defence chose not to reply,” the DPP said.

On that score, Afzanizam said the threshold for the court to grant leave for review has not been met and that the finding of guilt and sentence is safe.

“There is no need for a review,” the prosecution added.

Read also:
Federal Court finds Isa Samad guilty of corruption
Appellate Court acquits Isa Samad of bribery charge