KUANTAN: Two former Pahang State Secretary's office (SUK) staff members were charged at the Sessions Court here today with 29 counts of performing unauthorised modification to the contents in the Pahang state honours and awards management system website two years ago.
Mohd Isa Mohd Yusof, 36, faced a whopping 26 charges while Muhammad Amer Syafeeq Aziz, 30, was charged with three counts of unauthorised modification.
The duo, who were charged separately, pleaded not guilty before judge Maimoonah Aid.
Isa had allegedly used his identification number without permission to separately enter the names of 26 people into the Pahang state honours and awards management system website, making them eligible recipients of the 'Datuk' and 'Datuk Seri' awards from the Pahang sultan when none of the individuals were actually listed for the award.
Isa, who previously served as the SUK's operations assistant, had allegedly committed the offence between Feb 19, 2020, and Oct 12 last year at the Pahang SUK office here.
Meanwhile, Amer Syafeeq, was accused of using his identification number without approval to separately enter the names of three individuals into the Pahang state honours and awards management system website as eligible recipients of the 'Datuk' and 'Datuk Seri' awards from the Pahang sultan when none of the individuals were actually listed for the award.
The father-of-one had allegedly committed the offences on Aug 18, Aug 27 and Oct 4 respectively last year at the Pahang SUK office here.
According to the charge sheet, both the accused committed the act despite knowing their action will modify the contents in the computer system.
They were charged under Section 5(1) of the Computer Crimes Act 1997 for unauthorised modification of the contents of a computer, which is punishable under Section 5(4) of the same law. It carries a fine of up to RM100,000 or up to seven years' jail, or both.
Pahang prosecution director Abdul Ghafar Ab Latif and deputy prosecuting officer Fathin Nadhirah Kasim proposed bail of RM10,000 for each charge with one surety each for Isa and Amer Syafeeq.
Isa, who was not represented, told the court that his family could not afford the huge bail amount and pleaded for a lower amount saying he could only afford to raise between RM10,000 and RM20,000.
Amer Syafeeq's counsel Noor Azmi Kasani told the court that his client was no longer working after his contract as an administrative assistant ended on June 30.
"My client now does part time jobs to support the family and his wife is pregnant. I hope the court will impose RM10,000 bail for all the three charges," he said.
Ghafar described the case as of public interest as it involves titles and awards which were given to some people who were not eligible for it.
Maimoonah set bail at RM5,000 for each charge and set Feb 13 for mention.
It was reported yesterday that police nabbed two people who were believed to be misusing their employee identification numbers to make modifications to the list of "Datuk" and "Datuk Seri" recipients in the Pahang state honours and awards management system.
State police chief Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said 29 individuals had allegedly purchased the fake DIMP (Darjah Indera Mahkota Pahang ) awards, which carries the title of 'Datuk', and the SSAP (Sri Sultan Ahmad Shah Pahang) awards, which carries the title of 'Datuk Seri'.