Former Sabah minister Datuk Peter Anthony has filed a legal bid to review the Court of Appeal’s decision that upheld his conviction for forging a letter linked to a university maintenance contract.

The three-year jail sentence and RM50,000 fine were affirmed earlier this month over a 2014 letter tied to a service contract at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), which the court found to have been falsified with intent to deceive.

On March 14, Peter who is the leader of KDM Party filed a notice of motion through his legal firm Messrs Kow, Lau & Ezra, naming the public prosecutor as respondent, Bernama reports. 

He is seeking to overturn the Court of Appeal ruling delivered on March 4, which enforced the conviction and sentence under Section 468 of the Penal Code for forgery of a document for the purpose of cheating.

In addition, he is asking the court to set aside a detention order issued to Kajang Prison and to grant any other relief deemed just by the court.

His lawyer Datuk Nicholas Kow Eng Chuan said case management has been set for March 26 before a deputy registrar at the Court of Appeal.

Peter’s final appeal had been dismissed by the appellate court on March 4, leaving the three-year jail term handed down by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court in May 2022 intact. The Kuala Lumpur High Court had also rejected his earlier appeal in April last year.

He has since paid the RM50,000 fine.

The charge relates to Peter’s time as managing director of Syarikat Asli Jati Sdn Bhd, where he was accused of forging a letter dated June 9, 2014, purportedly from the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of UMS.

The letter, containing false claims regarding a maintenance and service contract for the university’s mechanical and electrical systems, was said to have been used between June and August that year at the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya.

If convicted under Section 468, the offence carries a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment and a fine. – March 21, 2025