Doc changes plea to not guilty to deceiving RTD (Updated)

BUTTERWORTH: A 73-year-old doctor who claimed trial to deceiving the Road Transport Department (RTD) when charged last month for the offence changed his plea to not guilty today.
Dr Ding Yong Chaung made the change when the case was brought up for mention before Sessions Court Judge Sitarun Nisa Abdul Aziz.
Dressed in slacks, he appeared calm when changing his plea and asked the court to give him two months to appoint a lawyer to represent him.
Sitarun, however, gave him a month to do so and fixed July 17 for mention while MACC deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Ahmad Ghazali Muhamad Nadzari prosecuted.
Earlier, he tried to avoid the media in the morning by entering the courtroom fast and made a beeline for the exit after his mention was over.
Ding is charged with trying to deceive the RTD into believing he had conducted a physical health examination on one Mohd Firdaues Azizan, 34, for the purpose of renewing his vocational licence, formerly known as a Public Service Vehicle (PSV) licence.
The offence was allegedly committed at Ding Polyklinik Dan Surgeri in Bukit Mertajam here at about 11.45am on Feb 14 this year.
The offence under the Penal Code, read together with Section 28 (1) (a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, is punishable by up to five years' jail or a fine, or both.
Ding is one of five doctors charged for attempting to deceive the RTD over mandatory physical health examinations for vocational driving license applicants.
Two insurance agents were also charged with using as genuine, a vocational licence application certified by a doctor despite having reason to believe the document was fake.
All of them claimed trial when charged last month.