Ex-Air Pahang manager’s acquittal on 22 graft charges overturned

Sani Khan Ali Khan is sentenced to three years in prison and fined RM239,500 but gets a stay of execution.

Former Air Pahang manager Sani Khan Ali Khan was granted bail of RM20,000 and ordered to report to the Kuantan MACC office every month. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 A former Air Pahang manager’s acquittal from 22 charges of accepting RM44,700 in bribes was overturned by the High Court in Kuantan today.

Justice Samry Masri sentenced Sani Khan Ali Khan, 60, to three years in prison and a RM239,500 fine, or 12 more months in prison if he fails to pay the amount.

According to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the court granted Sani a stay of the sentence’s execution pending an appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Samry ruled that the sessions court had erroneously placed the burden on the prosecution to prove the elements of corruption in the charges when the accused faced a heavier burden to rebut the accusations.

The judge also said the lower court took into account the defence’s arguments without considering the totality of the evidence submitted by the prosecution.

The accused was charged in January 2020 with accepting RM44,700 in bribes from Chong Wei Peng, the owner of a contracting firm, in exchange for Air Pahang contracts managed by Sani.

Deputy public prosecutors Asraf Tahir and Hazel Tan prosecuted while the accused was represented by lawyer Najib Husain.

Sani was granted bail of RM20,000 and ordered to report to the Kuantan MACC office every month. - FMT