Kasitah Gaddam

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific_prefix = Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Datuk

|honorific_suffix = PSM JSM PGDK

|citizenship = Malaysian

|nationality = Malaysian

|term_end = 26 March 2004

|office = Minister of Lands and Co-operatives Development

|party = United Sabah National Organisation (USNO)
United Malay National Organisation (UMNO)

|otherparty = Barisan Nasional (BN)

|primeminister = Mahathir Mohamad
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

|deputy = Goh Cheng Teik {{small|(1999)}}
Tan Kee Kwong {{small|(1999–2004)}}

|constituency = Senator

|monarch = Ja’afar
Salahuddin
Sirajuddin

|predecessor = Osu Sukam

|successor = Adenan Satem {{small|(as Minister of Natural Resources and Environment)}}
Mohamed Khaled Nordin {{small|(Co-operatives Development)}}

|term_start = 14 March 1999

|death_date =

|death_place =

|image =

|image_size =

|caption =

|alma_mater =

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1947|10|18}}

|birth_place = Ranau, Ranau District, Crown Colony of North Borneo {{small|(now Sabah, Malaysia)}}

|birth_name = Kasitah bin Gaddam

|resting_place =

|occupation = Politician

|residence =

|native_name = قصيدة بن قدم

|constituency_MP2 = Kinabalu

|majority2 = Uncontested (1986)

|predecessor2 = Mark Koding (BERJAYA-BN)

|successor2 = Osman Minudin (PBS)

|term_start2 = 1986

|parliament2 = Malaysian

|term_end2 = 1990

}}

Tan Sri Datuk Kasitah bin Gaddam (Jawi: قصيدة بن قدم; born 18 October 1947) is a Malaysian politician from the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) who served as Minister of Lands and Co-operatives Development of Malaysia between 1999 and 2004. He was born in Sabah, Malaysia.

Corruption allegations

=2004=

Kasitah served as chairman of the Sabah State Land Development Authority (LKTNS). He was charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on 12 February 2004 on two charges of corruption.{{cite web|access-date=27 June 2019|publisher=Straits Times|title=In Malaysia: Gold, cash, land titles found in safe deposit boxes|date=6 January 2017|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/in-malaysia-gold-cash-land-titles-found-in-safe-deposit-boxes}} Kasitah was accused of using his position as chairman of the LKTNS Board for personal interest by participating in the decision to approve the proposed sale of {{MYR}}16.8 million worth of Sapi Plantations shares held by the board to Briskmark Enterprise Sdn Bhd. Kasitah was also accused of deceiving LKTNS by not revealing the offer of PPB Oil Palm Sdn Bhd to allocate five shares of the company for each Sapi Plantations share in the proposed public listing.

Brismark Enterprise Sdn Bhd director Wasli Mohamad Said was present at the Kota Kinabalu Sessions Court on 12 February 2004 to face five counts of corruption involving {{MYR}}1 million and the granting of 3.36 million shares of LKTNS shares. Wasli, as the chief witness of the prosecution, revealed in court that former Chief Minister of Sabah and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Yong Teck Lee had instructed him to make a payment of more than {{MYR}}5 million as a result of the sale of the shares owned by the Sabah state government to his agent of choice in 1996. The Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) / Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigates the involvement of Yong.{{cite web|publisher=Facebook|url=https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1166479840122798&id=179565148814277&funlid=sPBp8gYRQ0pKfiPR|title=Kasitah charged with corruption, cheating}} BPR director-general Said Hamdan denied Yong's allegations that the BPR's actions opened its investigative papers as a threat. According to him, the agency is a law enforcement body, hence, RBs conducts investigations without fear or favour.{{cite web|url=http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2017/08/31/important-to-rectify-past-mistakes-sapp-tells-ph-leaders/|title=Important to rectify past mistakes, SAPP tells PH leaders|publisher=Free Malaysia Today|work=Zam Yusa|date=31 August 2017}}

Kasitah was accused of hiding information from members of the Sabah Land Development Board (SLDB) that the board on 22 October 1996 approved the sale of Sapi Plantations to Briskmark Enterprise Sdn Bhd, at a much lower price. As a result, the board lost over {{MYR}}137.5 million{{cite web|url=http://www.thesundaily.my/node/155726|publisher=The Sun (Malaysia)|title=Kasitah's act resulted in loss of RM137mil to SLDB}} in 1996. He himself chaired the board meeting at Hotel Fairlane in Kuala Lumpur, which was also its first board meeting outside Kota Kinabalu.

Prior to the sale of the shares to Briskmark, Kasitah initially obtained the approval of Sabah Chief Minister Joseph Kurup, the minister responsible for SLDB, where he had proposed two Bumiputera companies to buy the shares.

Kasitah was desperate to pay off his bank loan amounting to {{MYR}}10.9 million from DCB Bank (now RHB Bank). Tahir was unchanged from the Yayasan Sabah and Kasitah worked with Wasli, the new SLDB general manager, to sell the shares to Briskmark and then to repay the loan with the bank.

On 12 August 2009, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed and acquitted Kasitah from corruption and fraudulent involving shares belonging to the Sabah Land Development Authority (LKTNS) in 1996.{{cite web|access-date=27 June 2019|date=29 August 2017|title=End of the road for Isa or sandiwara?|work=Jose Barrock|url=https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/end-road-isa-or-sandiwara|publisher=The Edge (Malaysia)}} Judge Suraya Othman said the prosecution failed to prove a prima facie case. Some individuals are still free despite having several police reports on their corrupt practices.{{cite web|url=http://chedet.cc/?p=306|title=Kasitah Gaddam|publisher=Chedet|work=Mahathir Mohamad|date=20 August 2009}}

31 witnesses have been called to testify since 2007. Among the witnesses were former Minister of Resources and Enterprise Development, Joseph Kurup, and former Commerce International Merchant Bankers Bhd chief executive officer (CEO), Munir Majid.

Kasitah's lawyer was Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.{{cite web|publisher=Free Malaysia Today|work=V Anbalagan|title=SRC trial could be over sooner if prosecution hands over documents, says Shafee|url=https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2019/04/05/src-trial-could-be-over-sooner-if-prosecution-hands-over-documents-says-shafee/|date=5 April 2019|access-date=27 June 2019}}

=2019=

In June 2019, Kasitah was amongst 41 entities alleged to have received misappropriated funds from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) named in civil forfeiture suits filed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).{{cite web|access-date=27 June 2019|publisher=The Star (Malaysia)|date=22 June 2019|title=41 entities sued over 1MDB|work=Mazwin Nik Anis and Joseph Kaos Jr|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/06/22/41-entities-sued-over-1mdb/}}{{cite web|publisher=Malaysiakini|work=Annabelle Lee|date=21 June 2019|access-date=27 June 2019|title=MACC files 1MDB civil forfeiture suits against 41 respondents|url=https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/480535}} The amount he received was alleged to amount to {{MYR}}154,757.52.{{cite web|access-date=27 June 2019|url=http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news/136890/rm2-9m-from-1mdb-to-sabah/|work=Leonard Alaza|title=RM2.9m from 1MDB to Sabah|date=23 June 2019|publisher=Daily Express (Malaysia)}}{{cite web|date=21 June 2019|url=https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/how-much-money-macc-claiming-each-41-respondents-its-civil-forfeiture-suit|access-date=27 June 2019|title=How much money MACC is claiming from each of the 41 respondents in its civil forfeiture suit|work=Ahmad Naqib Idris|publisher=The Edge (Malaysia)}}

Election results

class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%"

|+ Parliament of Malaysia

!|Year

!|Constituency

!colspan=2|Candidate

!|Votes

!|Pct

!colspan=2|Opponent(s)

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1986

|P138 Kinabalu

|{{Party shading/Barisan Nasional}} |

|{{nowrap|Kasitah Gaddam}} (USNO)

| colspan=9 style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center;"|Unopposed

Honours

{{Flag|Malaysia}} :
50px Companion of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (JSM) (1992)
50px Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (PSM) – Tan Sri (1996){{cite web|publisher=Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia)|url=http://www.istiadat.gov.my/index.php/component/semakanlantikanskp/|title=Semakan Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat}}
{{Flag|Sabah}} :
50px Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (PGDK) – Datuk (1988)