PUTRAJAYA (August 1): The Court of Appeal (COA) will decide the fate of former Sabah infrastructure development minister Datuk Peter Anthony at a later date, after hearing his appeal to set aside his conviction and sentence of three years' imprisonment and a fine of RM50,000 for falsifying documents.

A three-member panel, led by Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, reserved judgment after hearing submissions from Peter’s lawyers and deputy public prosecutors on Thursday.

Ahmad Zaidi set August 16 for case management to set a date to deliver the court’s decision.

Ahmad Zaidi was flanked by Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Datuk Azmi Ariffin.

Peter’s lawyer, Datuk Nicholas Kow Eng Chuan, had argued that the charge sheet which was read out to Peter in his criminal trial at the Sessions Court, had not been signed by the public prosecutor and as such, the charge was defective.

He said that this was in contravention of Section 172 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), as all charges tried before the High Court shall be brought in the name of the public prosecutor and signed.

Kow said that by law, the charge sheet must be signed.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin said that the absence of a signature on the charge sheet was irrelevant and had not led to a miscarriage of justice.

He said that Peter had the charges read to him at the Sessions Court, understood them, and had claimed trial to the charges.

On April 19, 2023, Peter filed an appeal to set aside his conviction and sentence of three years' imprisonment and a fine of RM50,000 or 15 months' imprisonment, which was handed down by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on May 26, 2022.

The Melalap assemblyman previously failed in his appeal in the High Court on April 18 last year, and this is his final appeal in the Court of Appeal.

High Court judge Datuk Ahmad Bache, who had dismissed Peter's appeal, agreed with the trial judge's finding that Peter had falsified a document to get a project at UMS, even though he knew the project was meant to be awarded through an open tender.

Peter, the managing director of Syarikat Asli Jati Sdn Bhd, was charged with falsifying a letter from the office of the UMS vice-chancellor dated June 9, 2014, which included false statements with the intention to deceive.

The act was allegedly committed in the office of the principal private secretary to the prime minister at the Perdana Putra building, Putrajaya, between June 13 and Aug 21, 2014, and according to Section 468 of the Penal Code, a person convicted for this crime is liable to a maximum prison sentence of seven years and a fine.

However, Peter, who is also the president of the Social Democratic Harmony Party, has paid the fine of RM50,000.