FORMER Sabah infrastructure development minister Peter Anthony, who was charged with falsifying a letter from the office of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) deputy vice-chancellor for a system maintenance contract work, will know his fate tomorrow.

Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi is scheduled to read out the verdict at 9am.

On February 18, the defence team closed its case after calling three witnesses, including Peter, in the proceedings that began on February 9.

The other two defence witnesses were Peter’s personal assistant, Imy Christopher, 36, and digital forensics manager at Siaga Informatics Sdn Bhd, Nurul Aiman ​​Azmail, 34.

At the prosecution stage, 15 witnesses, including former prime minister Najib Razak, former treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah and former chief justice Zaki Azmi, who was appointed UMS board of directors chairman from April 3, 2013 to July 31, 2018, were called to testify at the trial.

On December 14 last year, the court ordered Peter, 51, to enter his defence after finding that the prosecution had succeeded in establishing a prima facie case against him.

According to the charge, Peter, as the managing director of Syarikat Asli Jati, was charged with forging a letter from the office of the deputy vice-chancellor of UMS dated June 9, 2014, by inserting a false statement with the intention of using it for fraudulent purposes.

The former vice-president of Parti Warisan Sabah is accused of committing the offence at the office of the principal private secretary to the prime minister at the Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya between June 13 and August 21, 2014.

The charge was framed under section 468 of the penal code for forging a document for the purpose of cheating, which provides for an imprisonment for up to seven years and a fine, if found guilty.

The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin along with Haresh Prakash Somiah and Francine Cheryl Rajendram while Peter was represented by lawyer S. Devanandan. – Bernama, May 25, 2022.