KANGAR: A former chief operating officer of a Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) subsidiary was charged in the Sessions Court here today with three counts of abuse of power involving the approval of three payment vouchers amounting to RM8,205 in 2018.
Zunaidi Ibrahim, 51, who is currently working as a lecturer at a university in Brunei, pleaded not guilty when the charges were read out before judge Norsalha Hamzah.
According to the charges, Zunaidi, who was serving as the chief technopreneur officer at UniMAP Sdn Bhd at the time, is alleged to have used his position to approve payment vouchers numbered PV0801 amounting to RM2,652.50, PV0809 valued at RM2,900, and PV0875 amounting to RM2,652.50 to his business partner in SWZ Technology Consultant, Wan Khairunizam Wan Ahmad, for payments for "committee and participant gifts for ICIET 2018".
The offences were allegedly committed on Aug 2 and 3 and Sept 3, 2018, at the Technopreneur@UniMAP Sdn Bhd office in Kangar.
Zunaidi was charged under Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 for abuse of power which is punishable under Section 24(1) of the same act.
If convicted, the accused could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of no less than five times the amount or value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
The prosecution was led by MACC deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Akmal Abdul Ghani, while the accused was represented by lawyer Muhammad Akif Hafie Abd Halim.
The court set bail at RM15,000 for the accused and Sept 9 for case mention.