Senior cop gets 10 years jail, RM42mil fine for money laundering

 

Court of Appeal says failure to pay the RM42mil fine will see his jail term increased by another four years. (File pic)

PUTRAJAYA : A senior police officer was sentenced to 10 years in jail and fined RM42 million by the Court of Appeal on eight charges of money laundering involving a total sum of RM3.35 million.

Previously, the High Court in Johor Bahru imposed a four-year jail sentence on deputy superintendent Ismail Syed Merah.

The court dismissed Ismail’s appeal against his conviction and jail sentence.

A three-member bench comprising justices Has Zanah Mehat, Nordin Hassan, and Hashim Hamzah instead allowed the prosecution’s appeal to enhance the 59-year-old’s jail sentence.

The court also allowed the prosecution’s appeal to impose a total fine of RM42 million on Ismail with failure to pay the fine resulting in a jail term of four years.

In a unanimous decision, justice Nordin said the appellate court handed down the enhanced custodial sentence against Ismail to reflect the seriousness of his offence.

He said the High Court judge was correct in his findings that the monies seized from Ismail’s house were proceeds from unlawful activities.

Justice Nordin said that Ismail, as a police officer who was entrusted to uphold the law, had betrayed that trust and protected illegal gambling operators.

Justice Nordin said it was reasonable to infer that the RM1.27 million and 8.17 million rupiah found in several boxes in Ismail’s house were bribes, among others, from two operators of illegal gambling activities.

“Ismail was paid to ignore the gambling activities.”

Ismail was charged with five counts of using money obtained from unlawful activities, two counts of committing money laundering, and one count of possessing money obtained from unlawful activities.

He was represented by lawyer Wan Azmir Wan Majid while deputy public prosecutors Dusuki Mokhtar and Fairuz Johari appeared for the prosecution. - FMT