FORMER Felda Chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad will remain in jail after the Federal Court dismissed his review of the decision that reinstated his guilty conviction and sentenced him to six years in prison and a fine of RM15.45 million in relation to the purchase of a hotel in Sarawak, 12 years ago.
Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak, Datuk Azizah Nawawi, ruled this after rejecting Mohd Isa's application to review the decision of the previous panel, which restored the decision of the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
Azizah, who sat with Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah and Datuk P Ravinthran, said the previous Federal Court panel had the power to re-evaluate evidence in the two lower courts.
According to him, the panel had previously set aside the Court of Appeal's decision and reinstated the conviction and sentence imposed by the High Court.
“We find that there was no miscarriage of justice; this application is dismissed,” he said.
Mohd Isa is currently serving a six-year prison sentence after the Federal Court on February 10 allowed the prosecution’s appeal to set aside the decision that acquitted him and reinstated his conviction, prison sentence and fine.
In 2018, Mohd Isa was charged with nine counts of receiving bribes totalling RM3.09 million from the then Gegasan Abadi Properties Sdn Bhd (GAPSB) Board Member, Ikhwan Zaidel, in return for approving the purchase of Merdeka Palace Hotel & Suites in Kuching (MPHS) by Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd (FICSB) for RM160 million.
The charge was under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and is punishable under Section 24(1) of the same act.
It provides for a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if convicted.
On February 3, 2021, the Kuala Lumpur High Court convicted Mohd Isa on all the corruption charges.
Judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, who is now a Federal Court Judge, sentenced him to six years in prison for each charge, making a total of 54 years and a fine of RM15.45 million or 18 years in prison if he fails to pay the fine.
However, the accused will only have to serve six years in prison after the court ordered the prison sentences to run concurrently.
However, on March 6, 2024, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal acquitted him of all charges after finding that the payments allegedly made through two witnesses were not supported by credible evidence.
The two individuals were the 21st prosecution witness (SP21), then Mohd Isa's special political officer, Muhammad Zahid Md Arip, and SP16, Ikhwan.
The three-judge panel, chaired by Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera (now Federal Court Judge), who sat with Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and Datuk SM Komathy Suppiah, also agreed that the charges were flawed because the issue that touched on Mohd Isa's concerns that could cancel the contract was not stated in any of the nine charges.
On Feb 10, the Federal Court unanimously reinstated Isa's conviction and sentence after allowing the prosecution's appeal against the Court of Appeal's decision to acquit him on March 6, 2024.
The 77-year-old former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar is serving his sentence at Sungai Buloh Prison. - June 26, 2026
