Consultant civil engineer acquitted of cheating

KUALA TERENGGANU: The Sessions Court here today discharged and acquitted a consultant civil engineer without having to enter his defence on a charge of cheating in connection to the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Gong Badak.
Judge Mohd Azhar Othman ordered Wan Manan Wan Ali, 54, to be released after finding that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against him.
Wan Manan was charged under Section 416 for cheating by impersonating as a certified inspector and issuing a document related to the main roof truss system and its associated works for the stadium project.
The section provides for up to seven years imprisonment, fine or both, upon conviction.
He was accused of presenting the document dated Jan 15 2009 to the then Terengganu Works Department director Rosli Zainal and Datuk Mohtar Nong (state government secretary at the time), between Jan 15 and March 29 2009 at the state Works Department Office, Wisma Negeri, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Terengganu.
Wan Manan was represented by lawyers Haresh Mahadevan and Ramzani Idris.
On June 2 2009, the roof of the stadium in the State Sports Complex in Gong Badak collapsed, causing damage to half of the structure. The complex was the main venue for the 2008 Sukan Malaysia (Sukma). – Bernama