KUALA LUMPUR: The prosecution’s appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision to acquit former FELDA chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad of nine corruption charges involving RM3 million will be heard at the Federal Court on October 29.

The charges relate to FELDA’s purchase of the Merdeka Palace Hotel & Suites in Kuching.

The date was set during a case management session held via Zoom by Federal Court Deputy Registrar Wan Fatimah Zaharah Wan Yussof.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz said all parties must submit their written submissions by October 14. Mohd Isa is represented by lawyer Siti Sarah Khalil.

The prosecution had filed a notice of appeal in March 2023 and submitted a petition of appeal in June, listing 24 grounds challenging the Court of Appeal’s ruling.

On March 6, 2024, a panel of three appellate judges unanimously overturned Isa’s conviction, six-year jail sentence, and RM15.45 million fine imposed by the High Court in 2021.

The court found no credible evidence linking Isa to the alleged code word “salam” used in the bribery claims involving his former aide Muhammad Zahid Md Arip.

Mohd Isa, 75, was initially charged in 2018 with receiving RM3.09 million in bribes through Zahid from a director of Gegasan Abadi Properties as a reward for facilitating FELDA’s RM160 million hotel purchase.

He was charged under Section 16(a)(A) of the MACC Act 2009, which carries up to 20 years in jail and a fine of at least five times the bribe amount or RM10,000, whichever is higher.