[UPDATED] Court finds Peter Anthony guilty of falsifying letter

KUALA LUMPUR – Former Sabah infrastructure development minister Datuk Peter Anthony was found guilty by the sessions court here for falsifying a letter from the Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) vice-chancellor’s office.

He is sentenced to three years’ jail and fined RM50,000.

However, judge Azura Alwi, in response to an application by Peter’s counsel, S. Devanandan, allowed a stay of execution of the jail sentence pending an appeal at the high court, but ordered the RM50,000 fine to be paid today.

Deputy public prosecutor Haresh Prakash Somiah applied for a deterrent sentence as a lesson to others, including politicians and civil servants.

He requested the court to impose a jail sentence of three to five years and a fine of between RM30,000 and RM50,000 on the accused.

In this case, he said, UMS’ reputation as a public university had also been affected as the contract given to REMT Utama Sdn Bhd had to be withdrawn, Bernama reported.

Azura found that the defence failed to raise reasonable doubt at the end of its case.

Azura said the court decided that the prosecution had succeeded in proving a prima facie case against Peter, 51, after hearing and examining submissions by the defence and the prosecution.

In February, Peter denied deceiving the Finance Ministry, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and former chief justice Tun Zaki Azmi over the support letter pertaining to the service and maintenance of the mechanical and electrical (M&E) system at UMS.

Earlier, Najib as the 12th prosecution witness, testified that he felt angry over being deceived through the support letter for the M&E contract work at UMS which needed his approval, being given to Peter’s company. 

Peter stated that he had direct access to Najib, who was the prime minister then due to his good relationship and close friendship with Najib’s chief private secretary, the late Datuk Azlin Alias.

Questioned by the prosecution whether he had personally met Najib to lobby for any project, Peter said yes, as his company is a registered construction company with a lot of workers.

The Court of Appeal on March 15 this year unanimously struck out the appeal filed by Peter to transfer his case from the sessions court here to the one in Kota Kinabalu.

On February 21, he unveiled Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) – a multiracial party only for Sabahans.

Known to have been once a close ally of Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, Peter left the party on December 28. He was one of Warisan’s vice-presidents.

Peter was charged as the managing director of Asli Jati Engineering Sdn Bhd with falsifying a letter from the Office of Universiti Malaysia Sabah Vice-Chancellor dated June 9, 2014, by inserting a false statement with the intention of using it to deceive others.

The offence was allegedly committed at the Office of the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister at the Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya between June 13 and August 21, 2014.

The charge, framed under Section 468 of the Penal Code, carries a maximum jail term of seven years and a fine, if convicted.

On December 14 last year, the sessions court here ordered Peter to enter defence after finding that the prosecution had succeeded in proving a prima facie case against him. – The Vibes, May 26, 2022