08/05/2026

FRIDAY | MAY 8, 2026

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Ex-cop jailed five years for blackmail over intimate videos

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday granted the Malaysian Bar leave to challenge the prosecution decision to discontinue proceedings against Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in the Yayasan Akalbudi corruption case. A three-member bench comprising Justice Datuk Faizah Jamaludin, who presided alongside justices Datuk Dr Lim Hock Leng and Datuk Nadzarin Wok Nordin, ruled that the Bar’s application was not frivolous and had raised arguable points of law warranting a full hearing at the substantive stage. “This is an appropriate, rare and exceptional case that warrants a full judicial review. Leave is granted to the appellant to commence judicial review against the attorney-general’s (AG) impugned decision. Thus, the High Court’s decision dated June 27, 2024, is set aside. “The matter is remitted to the High Court for the substantive hearing of the judicial review. There shall be no order as to costs,” Faizah said in announcing the unanimous decision. On June 27 last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed the Malaysian Bar’s application for leave to initiate judicial review proceedings, ruling that it failed to meet the threshold required for judicial review. The Bar subsequently filed the appeal. Faizah observed that the case met the criteria of being appropriate, rare and exceptional due to several converging factors, notably the seriousness of the charges and the strong public interest surrounding corruption prosecutions. “These include the prima facie finding after maximum evaluation, the calling of Trader loses RM880,000 to phone scam syndicate KUALA TERENGGANU: A trader suffered losses amounting to RM882,920 after falling victim to a phone scam syndicate in March. Kuala Terengganu police chief ACP Azli Mohd Noor said the victim, a man in his early 50s, received a phone call on March 23 from an individual posing as a representative of an insurance company. He said the caller claimed the victim’s name had been used to make several fraudulent health insurance claims at a private hospital, which the victim denied. “The victim’s call was then connected to another person posing as a police officer, supposedly for the purpose of lodging an online report. “In addition to the fake health insurance claims, the victim was also allegedly implicated in money laundering and corruption activities. To purportedly resolve the case, the victim was instructed to open two new bank accounts and transfer all his savings into those accounts for investigation purposes,” Azli said in a statement yesterday. He added that the victim lodged a police report on Wednesday after realising he had been scammed. The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code. – Bernama

the defence, the extent of proceedings already undertaken – involving 99 prosecution witnesses over 53 trial days and 15 defence witnesses – as well as the timing and number of representations, and the practical finality of the discontinuance. “Since the criminal court’s DNAA (discharge not amounting to an acquittal) order was a procedural consequence of the attorney-general’s impugned decision, the appellant is not challenging the criminal court’s order granting the DNAA. “What is being challenged is the executive root of that order, namely the AG’s decision to discontinue the prosecution in respect of the charges against the respondent (Ahmad Zahid) and to seek a DNAA. “Accordingly, we find that the appellant’s application for judicial review was not a collateral attack on the criminal court’s order granting a DNAA in respect of all 47 charges against the respondent.” The Bar is seeking to challenge the attorney-general’s Sept 4, 2023 decision to grant Ahmad Zahid a DNAA on 47 charges involving criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering linked to Yayasan Akalbudi funds. It is also seeking a court declaration that the decision by then-High Court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, now a Federal Court judge, was null and void as it had allegedly exceeded the jurisdiction conferred on the attorney general, Bernama reported. The court granted the DNAA after the prosecution informed it that the Attorney-General’s Chambers intended to discontinue proceedings against Ahmad Zahid to allow scrutiny of new evidence. PUTRAJAYA: A former police corporal has been ordered to serve a five-year jail sentence for blackmailing a man by threatening to report intimate videos involving him and his fiancee to religious authorities after the couple were detained during the Movement Control Order six years ago. A three-member Court of Appeal bench led by Datuk Azman Abdullah unanimously dismissed Mohd Aman Mustapa’s final appeal against his conviction. The 36-year-old had sought to overturn the Taiping High Court’s June 5, 2025 decision sentencing him to five years in prison. Azman, who sat with Datuk Noorin Badaruddin and Datuk Mohd after former corporal threatened victim with exposure to religious authorities o Apellate court upholds conviction

She added that the appellant, who was entrusted with protecting the public and upholding justice, had instead abused his authority to intimidate an ordinary citizen for personal gain. “The court cannot treat lightly any abuse of power by enforcement officers. When a police officer uses official authority to threaten and extort members of the public, it undermines confidence in law enforcement institutions,” she said, adding that such conduct amounted to a betrayal of public trust. Noorin also said the court took into account that the appellant’s actions extended beyond a one-off demand for RM300, as evidence showed he had attempted to bind PW3 to monthly payments over three years. “This shows the appellant intended to maintain control and prolonged pressure on the victim in order to extract financial benefits over an extended period.” She added that the Court of Appeal agreed with the High Court finding that the three-year jail sentence imposed by the Sessions Court was inadequate and failed to reflect the seriousness of the offence.

mobile phone and report the matter to religious authorities, forcing him to hand over RM300 in cash, Bernama reported. “The appellant’s actions were also suspicious and inconsistent with the conduct expected of a police officer when detaining members of the public,” she said. “In this case, the fear imposed on PW3 and his fiancee was that their intimate videos would be exposed and the matter referred to religious authorities and their families.” Noorin said the facts of the case showed the appellant had abused his position as a police officer by seizing PW3’s phone without lawful procedure and separately escorting both victims to Selama police headquarters under questionable circumstances. “The evidence shows the appellant held PW3’s phone without legal authority, used the victim’s intimate videos as leverage, threatened to report the matter to religious authorities and his family, negotiated over the payment amount, fixed it at RM300 monthly for three years totalling RM10,800, and only returned the phone after receiving RM300,” she said.

Radzi Abdul Hamid, also issued a warrant for the appellant’s arrest for the immediate commencement of the sentence. Mohd Aman had previously been granted a stay of execution pending the outcome of the appeal. On Nov 29, 2023, the Taiping Sessions Court sentenced Mohd Aman to three years’ jail after finding him guilty of extorting the victim by threatening to report him to religious authorities and coercing him into handing over RM300 at the public services office of the Selama police headquarters in Perak on June 18, 2020. He was charged under Section 385 of the Penal Code. In delivering the judgment, Noorin said the appellate court was satisfied the High Court judge had comprehensively evaluated all evidence, including trial notes, witness testimonies and recordings, and found no misdirection warranting appellate intervention. She said the third prosecution witness (PW3) had provided sufficient evidence showing the appellant intentionally instilled fear by threatening to expose intimate videos retrieved from the victim’s

Bar wins appeal to challenge Ahmad Zahid discharge case

REPEAT OFFENDER ... The former husband of Jahidah Nordin, who was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment last Monday for causing grievous hurt to his ex-wife, was again taken before the Sessions Court yesterday on two charges of causing grievous hurt to another of his wives recently. – BERNAMAPIC Illegal plastic processing factory raided

ALOR SETAR: The Northern Brigade General Operations Force (GOF) raided a factory in Sungai Petani suspected of illegally processing plastic waste, arresting a man and seizing equipment and materials worth about RM8.63 million. Its commander SAC Balveer Singh Mahindar Singh said the raid was carried out under Op Taring Alpha 5 by the GOF Battalion 3 Intelligence Branch in collaboration with the Kedah department of environment (DOE), Sungai Petani municipal council and the criminal investigation division of the Kuala

Balveer said the case has been handed to the Kedah DOE for further investigation under Section 34A of the Environmental Quality Act 1974, which carries a fine of up to RM100,000, imprisonment of up to five years, or both, in addition to a daily fine of RM1,000 for continuing offences after notice is issued. He added that the Sungai Petani Municipal Council has also issued a RM1,000 compound to the premises owner under Act 171 of the council’s Licensing of Premises, Trade, Business and Industry By-Laws 2017. – Bernama

Muda district police headquarters. “The operation followed intelligence on a premises believed to be carrying out plastic waste processing activities without approval from the authorities in the Sungai Petani area,” he said in a statement. He added that the plastic waste and raw materials were sourced from industrial areas in Kedah and Penang. Among the items seized were plastic processing machines, related equipment and machinery, as well as about 200 tonnes of unprocessed plastic stored in jumbo bags.