Umno's former Sabak Bernam MP Abdul Rahman Bakri is eligible to contest in the 14th general election after his acquittal for making false claims 10 years ago was upheld by the Court of Appeal today.
The appellate court also made a similar ruling on Rahman's former aide Mohd Rosli Busro.
Justice Mohd Zawawi Mohd Salleh who led a three-member bench said the court agreed with the High Court judge that there were elements of carelessness (in filing the claims) but there was no element of fraud.
"Hence, the appeal is dismissed. The bench would like to advise the parties to be careful when filing claims," he said in a unanimous decision.
The other judges were Justice Kamardin Hashim and Justice Rhodzariah Bujang.
Rahman, 53, was accused of using dubious claims documents to obtain allocations for a series of programmes which never took place.
He was charged with committing the eight offences at the Sabak Bernam district office between Jan 21 and Feb 12 in 2008.
Under Section 11(c) and Section 16 of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997, Rahman can be jailed up to up 20 years and fined not less than five times the value involved or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
Rosli, 50, was accused of being an accomplice or abetting in all the charges.
It was reported that Rahman was sentenced to six years' jail and fined RM400,000 by the Sessions Court in Shah Alam in 2012.
At the High Court in Shah Alam, initially, Rahman and Rosli's sentence was upheld by Justice Akhtar Tahir in October 2012.
However, on Jan 29, 2015, a Court of Appeal bench led by Justice Md Raus Sharif ordered that the High Court rehear the appeal.
This led to the duo's acquittal by Justice Ghazali Cha of the High Court in Shah Alam on May 10, 2015, and the appeal by the prosecution today. -Mkini
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