PETRA JAYA: A 58-year-old school headmaster was charged at the Kuching Special Court for Corruption here today with abuse of power involving a contract worth more than RM80,000.
Ismail Idris pleaded not guilty to the charge made against him under Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 for abuse of power for gratification, which carries a maximum 20 years' jail sentence and a fine of not less than five times the value of the gratification, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
He claimed trial to instructing Mazuri Katering to appoint Ismas Catering to supply cooked food under the "Supplementary Food Programme to SK Gita 2" – a contract worth RM86,190.
According to the charge sheet, Ismas Catering is owned by his wife, Saloma Kipli.
Ismail is alleged to have committed the offence at Sekolah Kebangsaan Tan Sri Dr Sulaiman Daud (formerly known as SK Gita 2) on Jul 1, 2016.
Counsel Khairil Azmi Hasbi, who represented the accused, appealed to the court that it is unnecessary to impose a cash bail on his client, since he is still a civil servant.
"My client has six children and no previous conviction," he said.
Judge Nixon Kennedy Kumbong set a RM10,000 court bail in two sureties, and fixed Sept 28 for the pre-trial case management.
The case hearing has been fixed for three days beginning Nov 11.
Earlier, in the same courtroom, a businessman pleaded not guilty to offering RM2,000 to a policeman at a cafe at Jalan Lapangan Terbang here, at 6.11pm on Oct 7 last year.
Wong Hunt Ping, 33, was charged with offering a bribe to Inspector Mohammad Harun from the State Criminal Investigation Department as inducement for the latter not to take action against the former for allegedly committing an offence under Section 379A of the Penal Code for vehicle theft.
Nixon set RM5,000 bail in two sureties for Wong's case. He also fixed Sept 29 for case management and the hearing from Nov 13 until Nov 15.
The prosecution for the first and second cases was conducted by Prosecuting Officer Ikhwan Mohd Ibrahim and Deputy Public Prosecutor Low Chin How from the MACC, respectively.
Counsel Francis Wee appeared on behalf of Wong.