MACC files appeal against dismissal of application to forfeit RM100,000 belonging to Kasitah Gaddam

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has filed an appeal against a High Court’s decision in dismissing its application to forfeit RM100,000 that was seized from former Land and Cooperative Development Minister Tan Sri Kasitah Gadam.

The money was frozen by MACC in 2018 for allegedly linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund scandal.

Deputy public prosecutor Maziah Mohaide, when contacted, said the appeal was filed at the Court of Appeal last July 28.

Meanwhile, lawyer Sasila Basri, representing Kasitah, said the case management has been set for Sept 17 before the Deputy Registrar of the Court of Appeal.

Last July 24, the High Court dismissed the MACC application after finding that the commission had failed to prove that the money that was seized in Kasitah’s CIMB Bank Berhad account was proceeds of unlawful activities.

High Court Judicial Commissioner Datuk Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh, in his judgment, said the language of Section 56(2)(a)(iii) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (AMLATFPUAA) is clear and in relation to the present application, the money which is liable to forfeiture must be the very money which is proceeds of unlawful activity.

“The applicant (prosecution) merely shows the receipt of the RM100,000 in the respondent's account but has not taken the most important step to show that the money which originated from Najib's account being the proceeds of unlawful activity,” he added.

-- BERNAMA