KUALA LUMPUR – The sessions court here today found Otman Arsahd, the former secretary of the finance division of the Youth and Sports Ministry, guilty on 32 charges of corruption and 64 charges of money laundering.
Judge Kamarudin Kamsun sentenced Otman to 15 years in jail and fined him RM284.2 million.
The judge made the decision after finding that the prosecution succeeded in proving the case against Otman, 64, beyond a reasonable doubt at the end of the defence case.
“After hearing the sworn statements from all the witnesses and examining all the exhibits and arguments presented, the court decided that the defence failed to raise reasonable doubts against the prosecution’s case.
“Therefore, the accused is found guilty and convicted of all the charges brought against him,” said Kamarudin.
On March 31, 2016, Otman was charged with 32 counts of abuse of power and with submitting false claims involving RM38.4 million at the National Sports Council Office, Bukit Jalil National Sports Complex here between February 28, 2012, and November 18, 2015.
Seventeen of the charges involved submitting false claims, which were framed under Section 18(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, while the other 15 charges were for misusing his position and framed under Section 23(1) of the same law.
In April 2016, Otman was charged with 64 counts of receiving RM16,623,000 in proceeds from unlawful activities through cheques that were deposited into his Maybank, RHB, and CIMB Bhd accounts between March 7, 2012, and December 11, 2015.
He was alleged to have committed the offences at different locations, including the RHB bank branch in Precinct 8, Putrajaya, Menara Maybank, Jalan Tun Perak, and the Maybank branch in Jalan Raja.
The charges were framed under Section 4 (1) (b) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, which carries a maximum jail term of 15 years, or a fine not less than five times the sum of the proceeds from unlawful activities, if convicted. – Bernama, July 6, 2023
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