Six slapped with 93 charges of making fraudulent claims
SHAH ALAM: A businessman and five others were slapped with 93 charges in sessions court today for making fraudulent claims of transportation charges of more than RM500,000 from an air conditioning company.
The five men and a woman pleaded not guilty to all the charges that were read out in front of Judge Adli Abd Ghalib. The court allowed bail with amounts ranging from RM5,600 to RM93,000.
Businessman Datuk R. Shanmugam, 46, faced 93 charges of making fraudulent transportation claims from Panasonic Appliances Air-Conditioning Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PAACM).
He was allowed bail for RM1,000 for each charge, bringing the total bail to RM93,000.
Yap Siew Hiong, 46, and P. Sugumaran, 50, who were general managers in WLS Container Lines, were charged with 46 counts of making fraudulent claims to the same company.
Yap was allowed bail at RM1,000 for each charge, bringing his bail to a sum of RM43,000 while Sugumaran was allowed bail at RM500 on each charge, with a total of RM23,000.
Sugumaran was given a lower bail as his lawyer mitigated that he had chronic renal problems and had undergone a kidney transplant. The lawyer provided supporting documents to the court to prove his health condition.
C. Karuppiah, 41, who was a director with Green Valleys Resources faced 19 charges, M. Kanesan, 38, who was a manager with Pandan Cerah Sdn Bhd faced 18 charges and V. Murugesu, 55, who provides transportation services for Tiban Enterprise faced seven charges of the same offence.
The three men were allowed bail at RM800 for each charge.
They were all charged under 420/34 of the Penal Code and faced a maximum of 10 years imprisonment, whipping and fine upon conviction.
According to the case facts, the fraudulent transportation charges were submitted to PAACM through invoices for sums ranging from RM1,600 to RM14,000.
The offences were said to have been committed occurred between 2008 and 2014 when Shanmugam who is the main suspect in the case was employed as a general manager of PAACM's material and logistics control department at Persiaran Tengku Ampuan, Sekyen 21, Shah Alam Industrial Site.
The court fixed March 26 for mention.
Prosecution was handled by Deputy Public Prosecutor Rizal Azani Zainal Adzan while lawyer Hasshahari Johari Mawi represented Shanmugam, Yap, Sugumaran, Karuppiah and Kanesan and P. Purshotaman represented Murugesu.