Malaysian opposition MP and ex-bank clerk get jail sentences over cows-and-condo scandal

Selangor MP Rafizi Ramli (above) and former Public Bank clerk Johari Mohamad were sentenced by the Shah Alam Sessions Court on Feb 7 in the case involving the accounts of the National Feedlot Corp Sdn Bhd. PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

SHAH ALAM - A Malaysian opposition Member of Parliament and an ex-bank clerk have each been sentenced to 30 months' jail after being found guilty of leaking banking data linked to a financial scandal involving what was then a government-backed company.

Selangor MP Rafizi Ramli and former Public Bank clerk Johari Mohamad were sentenced by the Shah Alam Sessions Court on Wednesday (Feb 7) in the case involving the accounts of the National Feedlot Corp Sdn Bhd (NFC), Malaysian media reported.

The judge has allowed the duo a stay pending appeal.

The sentence was the second conviction for Rafizi, 40. He was given an 18-month prison term in November 2016 for leaking classified documents linked to a state fund, with the conviction still under appeal.

Still, the sentencing has disqualified him from running in the next general election which is expected within months. A politician sentenced for more than a year is barred by law from contesting in polls for five years.

Sessions Court judge Zamri Bakar said the prosecution has proven their violation of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act (Bafia) beyond reasonable doubt, according to Malaysiakini news site.

"On a maximum analysis, the court found that the defence had failed to raise doubt and hence the prosecution has proven the case beyond reasonable doubt," he said.

Rafizi in 2011 called the media to expose the purchases of luxury condominium units by NFC - a company backed by government funds to breed cattle.

NFC was owned by Mohamad Salleh Ismail, the husband of Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. She was a former Cabinet minister and the current head of the Women's wing of Umno.

The Malaysian auditor-general's report in 2010 had pointed out NFC's inability to achieve its target of breeding 8,000 head of cattle in its farm in Gemas, Negeri Sembilan.

The matter was later labelled on social media and online media as Cowgate, or the cows-and-condo scandal.

Rafizi was charged with having access to four customer profile documents pertaining to the balance summaries of NFC, National Meat and Livestock Sdn Bhd, Agroscience Industries Sdn Bhd, and then-NFC executive chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh.

Though a whistleblower, Rafizi was accused of exposing the said secret banking documents to a media consultant and journalist on March 7, 2012.

He was charged under Section 97(1) of the Bafia on secrecy.

Johari was accused of abetting Rafizi to commit the alleged offence.

Rafizi is a vice-president of opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

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