Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali meted the sentence to Isa, 71, after hearing submissions for mitigation from his lawyer, Salehuddin Saidin, and deputy public prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz.

Nazlan sentenced Isa to six years’ imprisonment on each of the nine counts, the jail terms to run concurrently.

However, he granted a stay of execution against the prison sentence and fine pending Isa’s appeal to the Court of Appeal.

“The bail will be increased to RM1.5 million from RM800,000 pending appeal,” he said, ordering Isa to report to the nearest police station from his home on the 1st of every month, until disposal of his appeal.

Isa has until Thursday afternoon to pay the additional bail of RM700,000.

Isa, who was Felda chairman from January 2011 to January 2017, was initially slapped with one charge of criminal breach of trust (CBT) and nine counts of corruption over the purchase of the Merdeka Palace Hotel and Suites in Kuching, but the court acquitted him on the CBT case and ordered him to defend the bribery charges.

Isa, also the longest-serving Negeri Sembilan menteri besar (1982-2004) and a former federal minister, was accused of receiving RM3.09 million in kickbacks for approving the purchase of the hotel.

Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd (FIC) paid RM160 million in 2014 for the purchase, which was reportedly at least 50% higher than the actual value of the property.

Isa was charged under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act, which provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine five times the gratification amount, upon conviction.

Defence narrative merely an ‘afterthought’, says judge

Nazlan ruled that the defence had failed to cast reasonable doubt on the prosecution’s case.

In his judgment, he said the court found the defence’s narrative on the nine counts of corruption merely an “afterthought”.

The court was told that Isa accepted the money in nine transactions between July 2014 and December 2015.

The money was payment by Sarawak businessman Ikhwan Zaidel to Isa for approving FIC’s purchase of the hotel, and passed to Isa through his former aide, Muhammad Zahid Arip.

“It is true that no one witnessed the handover. Zahid had testified that the money was passed to the accused (Isa) in secrecy.

“Testimonies by defence witnesses such as the accused’s former secretary (Zuraida Ariffin @ Shaari) and bodyguard (Kamar Bashah Shariff) did not assist the defence’s case.

“The secretary may not have seen Zahid walking into the accused’s room with something in his hand and the bodyguard does not necessarily check on the accused’s bag at the end of the day,” the judge said.

On the testimony by defence witness Mohamad Jani Ismail that he heard Zahid “confess” to getting RM2 million in kickbacks and affirmed a statutory declaration (SD) over the incident, Nazlan said the SD was only affirmed one year after the purported meeting.

“The SD was only raised during examination-in-chief by the defence but was never raised in his witness statement.

“I find it bizarre as to why the witness did not report the ‘confession’ to MACC straight after the meeting in June 2018 as during that material time, investigations were still ongoing,” he said, adding that Isa was only charged in the sessions court in December that year.

Nazlan also said the court rejected Isa’s contention that Zahid wanted to implicate him in the hotel purchase so the latter could escape prosecution.

“The witness (Zahid) worked with the accused from 2011 to 2016 and throughout the six years, it was not in dispute that both of them had issues with each other over work.

“The witness’ contract was terminated after the accused said he was a big critic against the then government and showed support towards the opposition.

“There was no reason for the witness to implicate him,” he said.

On a purported conversation between Isa and Zahid at MACC headquarters a few months before Isa was charged, Nazlan said Isa did not take measures to inform MACC investigators of Zahid’s “confession”.

Isa had told the court he met Zahid on two occasions in 2018 – at a funeral and at MACC in Putrajaya – where Zahid claimed he was under stress during remand because he was placed in a haunted cell, and that it left him with no choice but to implicate Isa.

“However, the defence did not cross-examine Zahid on the two meetings or called witnesses to support this contention,” Nazlan said.

Jailing Isa now may put him at risk of Covid-19, says lawyer

During mitigation, defence lawyer Salehuddin urged the court not to execute the jail sentence against Isa for now, adding the defence intended to appeal against the conviction and sentence.

“He may be put in risk of Covid-19,” he said.

He also said it was impossible for Isa to pay the fine of RM15.4 million now. “He is currently a pensioner and would not be able to fork out RM15.4 million.”

Afzainizam, however, argued that there were no special circumstances that warranted a stay of custodial sentence and fine.

“We pray for the full effect of the judgment to be enforced,” he said.

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