PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday upheld the acquittal of former Rural Development Ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Muhammad for abetment in criminal breach of trust (CBT) and cheating.Justices Datuk Suriyadi Halim Omar, Datuk Hasan Lah and Datuk Ahmad Maarop unanimously dismissed the prosecution’s appeal against the acquittal.
Aziz, 65, now a businessman, was initially convicted and jailed five years by the Sessions Court in 2005 for abetting Terengganu Tengah Development Authority (Ketengah) general manager Datuk Alwi Said in committing CBT of RM2 million belonging to Ketengah.
The offence was alleged to have been committed at Kompleks Kewangan in Jalan Raja Chulan between April 27 and July 31, 1999.
He also received another five years jail for cheating the then second finance minister, Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, through Finance Ministry officials, into believing that Ketengah’s RM9 million investment in orchid cultivation, fish-rearing and recreation projects in Tasik Puteri, Bukit Besi, Dungun, were sound.
The offence was allegedly committed at the Finance Ministry in Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur, between June 24 and Aug 9, 1999.
Dr Abdul Aziz was ordered by the Sessions Court to serve the jail sentence concurrently but the High Court on Nov 16 2008 acquitted and discharged him after allowing his appeal. — Bernama