KUALA LUMPUR: Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s mother has accused the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) of advising her to tell her son to support the then newly formed Perikatan Nasional government if she wanted investigations against her and her husband to stop.
Sharifah Mahani Syed Abdul Aziz told the High Court that she would not forget what an officer told her during an investigation at the MACC headquarters at Putrajaya in 2020.
“To be completely honest, they (MACC officers) didn’t say anything about the government, but one thing I cannot forget is they told me it’s better for me to tell my son to follow the current government so that my husband and I would not be probed anymore. Perhaps they were joking.
“As a mother who loves her son and understands his sacrifices, (the request) was not easy (to follow). I’m sorry, your honour, I consider my son to be a political victim,” she said during cross-examination in Syed Saddiq’s corruption trial today.
Syed Saddiq faces four charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT), misappropriation of funds and money laundering of RM1 million belonging to Bersatu’s youth wing, Armada. Today is the first day of the trial of the Muda president and Muar MP.
Mahani said Syed Saddiq had reminded her and her husband, Syed Abdul Rahman Abdullah Al-Sagoff, twice in 2020 to be careful as MACC would “go after them”.
She said MACC officers investigating her were “nice” but their words were “intimidating”.
Mahani did not name the officer who allegedly gave the advice.
A prosecution witness, MACC investigating officer Muhamad Taufik Awaludin, told the court that Syed Saddiq had “concocted a narrative” that RM250,000 allegedly missing from his safe in his house belonged to him and his parents and was meant for house renovations.
He said this was evident through a conversation in a WhatsApp group involving Syed Saddiq and his colleagues where he had admitted that the missing money was actually from a discretionary fund.
“Initially, Syed Saddiq told the WhatsApp group that the money belonged to a discretionary fund. Later, he suggested that a media statement would be issued.
“He chose to lodge a police report (about the missing funds) and issued a statement saying that the money belonged to him and his parents,” Taufik said.
He claimed that his investigation into the missing funds in March 2020 led to another case of suspected embezzlement involving the RM1 million belonging to Armada.
Ambiga Sreenevasan, Gobind Singh Deo and Lim Wei Jiet represented Syed Saddiq, while deputy public prosecutor Wan Shahruddin Wan Ladin led the prosecution team.
The trial before judge Azhar Abdul Hamid continues tomorrow.