Former Sabah Water Department director Ag Mohd Tahir Mohd Talib was found guilty on all 12 charges linked to a money laundering case involving more than RM45 million dating back nearly a decade.
The 63-year-old was convicted after Judge Abu Bakar Manat ruled that the prosecution had successfully proven the case beyond reasonable doubt.
Meanwhile, his wife Fauziah Piut, 61, and former Sabah Water Department deputy director Lim Lam Beng, 72, were acquitted and discharged of the charges against them.
The court also acquitted Ag Mohd Tahir and his wife on two joint charges related to money laundering.
According to court proceedings, the offences were allegedly committed in Sabah and Kuala Lumpur between October and November 2016 under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
The court later postponed proceedings to allow mitigation submissions from Ag Mohd Tahir before sentencing is delivered.
The case became one of Sabah’s biggest corruption scandals after it first surfaced in 2016 when the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) carried out one of the largest seizures ever recorded in the state.
Authorities seized tens of millions of ringgit in cash and valuable items during raids linked to the investigation.
Images showing stacks of cash piled inside rooms and scattered across floors quickly went viral in local media at the time, turning the investigation into one of Malaysia’s most high-profile corruption scandals.
