PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has acquitted and discharged a Syariah lawyer of a criminal breach of trust charge involving RM7,000 in client fees from thirteen years ago.
A three-member bench unanimously allowed the appeal filed by Muhammad Hafiz Ab Rashid, overturning his earlier conviction and sentence.
Justices Datuk Hashim Hamzah, Datuk Azman Abdullah, and Datuk Azmi Ariffin set aside the Sessions Court’s ruling which had sentenced the lawyer to two years in prison, two strokes of the cane, and a RM5,000 fine.
Justice Azmi Ariffin delivered the court’s unanimous judgment, stating that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
He noted that the appellant was no longer an employee of the law firm where the offence was alleged to have occurred.
The court found insufficient evidence to establish that the client, Siti Robaan Shafii, was actually a client of that particular firm.
Justice Azmi determined that the RM7,000 paid by Siti Robaan Shafii to the appellant constituted a legal fee payable directly to him.
He explained that Muhammad Hafiz had by then become a partner at a new firm and had been formally appointed as her counsel.
The court concluded that the funds therefore did not belong to the previous law firm mentioned in the charge.
Justice Azmi held that the wakalah agreement executed by the client demonstrated her retention of the appellant’s services through a distinct legal firm.
This separate firm was not the practice implicated in the original criminal breach of trust charge.
The court further noted that the client had formally appointed Muhammad Hafiz to represent her in two separate Syariah court matters.
Both legal matters were concluded by the appellant without any participation from his former firm.
According to the original charge, Muhammad Hafiz, now 38, was accused of misappropriating client funds while he was still affiliated with his previous employer.
The offence was alleged to have occurred at the Syariah High Court in Shah Alam, Selangor, on March 16, 2012.
He was convicted and sentenced by the Sessions Court on September 27, 2023, to two years’ imprisonment, two strokes of the cane, and a fine of RM5,000.
The sentence included an alternative six months’ imprisonment in default of paying the fine.
The High Court subsequently upheld both the conviction and sentence on June 28 last year.
During today’s proceedings, deputy public prosecutor Zander Lim Wai Keong appeared for the respondent.
The appellant was represented by his counsel, Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla. – Bernama