MACC officer responsible for Syed Saddiq probe identified in court 

KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer who allegedly tried persuading former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman to support ex-prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has been identified in court.

The MACC officer, now identified as Mohd Ihsan Sapuan, was brought into the courtroom at the high court here for Syed Saddiq to verify his identity, to which the latter confirmed.

However, Ihsan was not called in as a defence witness.

Ihsan was supposedly the officer who led the raid at Syed Saddiq’s home, and served him with a notice to testify at the MACC headquarters and interrogated him there, apart from communicating with him throughout the investigation.

A transcript of an audio recording between Ihsan and Syed Saddiq was brought in as evidence, where the former allegedly said Muhyiddin still cared for Syed Saddiq, and tried persuading him to support the former prime minister.

Meanwhile, Syed Saddiq’s former private secretary, Siti Nurul Hidayah, who was in the witness stand, verified the police report she filed after allegedly being threatened by the MACC.

Yesterday, Hidayah, who was the fourth defence witness, said Syed Saddiq did not receive financial assistance from his two former affiliations, Bersatu and its youth wing Armada, and forked out his own money to promote himself while contesting the Muar parliamentary seat in the 2018 general election (GE14).

The proceedings today ended with Syed Saddiq’s defence lawyer Gobind Singh Deo concluding the trial.

The defendant is required to send in a written submission by April 3, and oral submissions by April 10 and 11.

Syed Saddiq is being tried for abetting former Armada assistant treasurer Rafiq Hakim Razali to commit criminal breach of trust and for misusing party contributions amounting to RM120,000 belonging to Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise (ABBE).

He is also facing two charges of money laundering, in two transactions of RM50,000 each, believed to be proceeds of unlawful activities.

However, the 30-year-old claimed that the funds from ABBE actually belonged to him, as he had used his own money for his GE14 campaign.

He also denied instructing Rafiq or former assistant secretary Ahmad Redzuan Mohamed Shafi to withdraw the Bersatu funds as the party wing’s open-space discussion locations prevented secret discussions. – The Vibes, March 14, 2023