JUDGMENT

Saiful Azian Mokhtar JC:

Introduction

[1] At trial, the appellant in this appeal was charged with two offences of abetment under s 109 of the Penal Code. Another person, Muhammad Sufi bin Mahbub ("Muhammad Sufi"), was charged with two offences of criminal breach of trust under s 409 of the Penal Code.

[2] The charges for abetment against the appellant were in respect of the offences of criminal breach of trust committed by Muhammad Sufi. The charges against both the appellant and Muhammad Sufi were tried together.

[3] At the close of prosecution, both Muhammad Sufi and the appellant were called to enter their defence. When the case for the defence concluded, both Muhammad Sufi and the appellant were found guilty and convicted.

[4] For each charge under s 409 of the Penal Code, Muhammad Sufi was sentenced to imprisonment for the period of five years. The sentence of imprisonment was ordered to run concurrently. The appellant was sentenced to imprisonment for the period of two years for the offence of abetment. The sentence too was ordered to run concurrently.

[5] Both Muhammad Sufi and the appellant were not satisfied and respectively appealed against conviction and sentence. The Public Prosecutor was not satisfied with the sentence imposed by the trial court and cross-appealed against sentence.

[6] During hearing of the appeal, Muhammad Sufi passed on. Subsequently, his appeal was withdrawn. At the same time, the Public Prosecutor's cross-appeal for sentence against Muhammad Sufi was also withdrawn. Both the appeal and cross-appeal in respect of Muhammad Sufi were accordingly struck out.

[7] The appeal by the appellant and cross-appeal by the Public Prosecutor remained. At the conclusion of the appeal, I allowed the appellant's appeal and set aside the conviction and sentence handed down by the trial court for each charge. Consequently, the appellant was acquitted and discharged of the two charges. Effectively, the Public Prosecutor's cross-appeal was also dismissed. The Public Prosecutor was not satisfied and appealed.

The Charges

[8] Muhammad Sufi faced two charges for criminal breach of trust under s 409 of the Penal Code. One was allegedly committed between January and July 2014 and the other between March and July 2014.

[9] The two charges against Muhammad Sufi were registered as Arrest Case No: WA-62R-006-03/2017. The respective charges in their original language were as follows:

(a) Charges against Muhammad Sufi

Arrest Case No: WA-62R-006-03/2017

First charge:

"Bahawa kamu, di antara 13 Januari 2014 hingga 23 Julai 2014 di Bangunan Wisma Lembaga Kemajuan Tanah Persekutuan (FELDA), Jalan Perumahan Gurney, dalam Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, sebagai ejen, iaitu Timbalan Pengarah Besar Sumber Strategik FELDA dan di dalam kapasiti tersebut diamanahkan dengan penguasaan ke atas dana FELDA, telah melakukan pecah amanah jenayah ke atas dana tersebut, di mana kamu telah dengan curangnya melupuskan wang tersebut dengan memasuki Perjanjian "Technology Transfer and Supply Agreement (TTSA)" dengan I2C Hassed Co Ltd (No Syarikat: 110111-4680199) melalui FELDA Caviartive Sdn Bhd (No Syarikat: 1076691-K) dan meluluskan pembayaran berjumlah RM25,999,000.00 tanpa kelulusan Lembaga Pengarah FELDA. Oleh yang demikian, kamu telah melakukan kesalahan di bawah s 409 Kanun Keseksaan [Akta 574] dan boleh dihukum di bawah seksyen yang sama.".

Second charge:

"Bahawa kamu, di antara 31 Mac 2014 hingga 23 Julai 2014 di Bangunan Wisma Lembaga Kemajuan Tanah Persekutuan (FELDA), Jalan Perumahan Gurney, dalam Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, sebagai ejen, iaitu Timbalan Pengarah Besar Sumber Strategik FELDA dan di dalam kapasiti tersebut diamanahkan dengan penguasaan ke atas dana FELDA, telah melakukan pecah amanah jenayah ke atas dana tersebut, di mana kamu dengan curangnya melupuskan wang tersebut dengan memasuki Perjanjian "Design-Build Contract Agreement (DBCA)" dengan I2C Hassed Co Ltd (No Syarikat: 1061918-U) melalui FELDA Caviartive Sdn Bhd (No Sy