KOTA KINABALU, March 25 — Former Sabah state minister Datuk Peter Anthony, who is about a year into serving a three-year sentence for a cheating case at Kajang Prison, has reportedly been released on parole and returned home in the interior of Sabah.

Deputy president of Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM), Datuk Wetrom Bahanda, confirmed Peter’s release but declined to provide further details.

No official confirmation has been obtained from the authorities, but Prison Department sources said he applied for parole as soon as he was eligible and was granted conditional parole. It is believed he was released on March 13 and returned to Sabah last week.

Sabah police commissioner Datuk Jauteh Dikon said parole matters fall under the Prison Department and declined to elaborate. Under amendments to the Prisons Act 1995 (Amendment 2008), eligible inmates may serve the remainder of their sentence outside prison once granted parole.

Peter was charged with committing fraud between June 13 and August 21, 2014, at the Prime Minister’s Department in Putrajaya, under Section 468 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment and a fine.

The charge stated that, as managing director of Asli Jati Sdn Bhd, he had forged a letter dated June 9, 2014, from the office of the vice-chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Sabah, with intent to deceive. The letter was related to a maintenance and services contract for the university’s mechanical and electrical systems.

The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court convicted him in May 2022, sentencing him to three years in prison and a RM50,000 fine. His appeals to the High Court and Court of Appeal were dismissed, and he began serving his sentence on March 4, 2025.

Peter was elected as the Melalap assemblyman under Parti Warisan in the 2018 general election and was later appointed Sabah Infrastructure Development Minister. He left Warisan in 2022 and formed Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM). Following his imprisonment, his daughter Priscella took over as acting party president. In the last Sabah state election, the party contested 40 seats but won only one, while Priscella lost the Melalap seat she contested in place of her father.