Sabah Infrastructure Development Minister Datuk Peter Anthony pleaded not guilty to five money-laundering charges at a special corruption court in Kota Kinabalu today.
Anthony, who is vice-president of Parti Warisan Sabah, pleaded not guilty to the charges read separately before Judge Abu Bakar Manat.
The five charges are for money-laundering and accepting the proceeds of illegal activities amounting to RM8.75 million between 2014 and 2016.
Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib has applied for RM1 million bail with two local sureties.
According to his first charge sheet, Anthony was charged under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001, where he is accused of being involved in money laundering on July 25, 2014.
He is accused of committing the offence at the Malayan Banking Berhad branch, Jalan Perpaduan Kampung Air, KOta Kinabalu where he allegedly instructed Budiman Juta Sdn Bhd directors Safineh Doto and Ebby Roy Raimon to transfer RM1.75 million from the company’s account into Syarikat Wondrous Enterprise Sdn Bhd.
In his second charge, Anthony is accused of receiving RM2 million, allegedly obtained through illegal activities from the same company, in which the money was transferred into the bank account of Asli Jati Engineering Sdn Bhd owned by Anthony.
He allegedly committed the offence, under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001, at the same location on Sept 5, 2014.
Both the offences carry a jail term not more than five years and not more than RM5 million fine, or both, if convicted.
For the other three charges, Anthony was accused of receiving a total of RM5 million proceeds of unlawful activity from Budiman Juta Sdn Bhd which were transferred into the account of Asli Jati Engineering Sdn Bhd, a company which he owned.
The offence was allegedly committed at Malayan Banking Berhad, Lot 6 & 7, Jalan Perpaduan, Kampung Air, near here, between September 5, 2014, and January 18, 2016.
If convicted, he is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 15 years and fine of RM5 million or not less than five times the sum or value of the proceeds of the unlawful activity or instrumentalities of the offence at the time the offence was committed, whichever is higher.
The court allowed Peter bail of RM500,000 with two local sureties and ordered his passport to be surrendered to the court, and for him to report to the Sabah Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office once in every two months.
Deputy public prosecutors from the MACC, Ahmad Akram Gharib and Nartiah M Sambatan, appeared for the prosecution, while Anthony was represented by four lawyers — Cedric Choo, Datuk Douglas Lind, Martin Tommy and Luke Ressa Balang.
Anthony, who is Melalap assemblyman, arrived in court at 8.15am amidst a crowd of supporters and left without speaking to the waiting media.
He is also the president of the Kadazan Dusun Murut Association and Sabah Football Association.
Anthony’s counsel Martin Tommy confirmed that the case involved Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda) land deal.
Abu Bakar fixed case management for August 4.