KUANTAN: An assistant engineer was sentenced to two years’ jail and a fine of RM326,700 by the Sessions Court here today after he was found guilty of making a false payment claim for the construction of a surau three years ago.
Judge Mohd Ghazali Mohamad Taib also ordered the accused Mohd Azly Kamarudin (pix), 33, from Kampung Feri Pontian, Kuala Rompin, Rompin to serve another 12 months in jail if he fails to pay the fine.
Mohd Ghazali, however, allowed stay of execution pending appeal to be filed by counsel T. Mura Raju who represented the accused.
The accused, Mohd Azly, was charged with making a false claim of RM65,340 by signing a work indent form PLB/R/PJ5/43/2016 as acknowledgement that the construction works for a surau at the Pontian Jaya housing scheme had been fully and satisfactorily completed by the supplier when it was not the case.
He was alleged to have committed the offence at the Rompin District and Land Office on Dec 20, 2016, and charged under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and punished under Section 24 of the same Act which carries a maximum jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of five times the amount involved or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if convicted.
Earlier, Mura Raju informed the court that the accused who had been suspended from work from Jan 1, 2018, still supported his parents financially.
“The said surau was already completed in April 2017 and the payment to the contractor was also settled. The accused was alleged to have committed this offence not on other intentions but to pursue the project and assisting the contractor,” he said.
However, MACC deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Fadhly Mohd Zamry pressed for just sentence to serve as a lesson for the accused, who was a civil servant, to be involved with corruption-related offences. — Bernama
