PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has set March 9 as the date to hear former Felda chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad’s application for the return of his passport.

       He is seeking the return of his travel documents to allow him to attend his daughter’s convocation at a university in the United Kingdom at the end of this month.

       Deputy public prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz told reporters when contacted that the court set the date for online case management in front of assistant registrar Nurul Azrina Mohamed Yusof on Wednesday (March 2)

       "He filed his application for the temporary return of his passport on Feb 24,” he said, adding that the court also set May 11 for further case management.

       On Feb 3 last year, Isa, 72, was convicted on nine counts of graft involving RM3 million related to the purchase of Merdeka Palace Hotel & Suites (MPHS) in Kuching, Sarawak and was sentenced to six years’ jail for each charge and fined RM15.45 million, with an additional 18 years’ jail should he fail to pay the fine.

       Mohd Isa is only required to serve six years after Judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali (who is now a Court of Appeal judge) ordered all jail sentences to run concurrently.

       The judge reached his verdict after finding that the prosecution managed to prove their case for all the charges against Mohd Isa.

       The former Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar filed his appeal on Feb 4, 2021. - Bernama