KUANTAN: Two Pengurusan Air Pahang Bhd (PAIP) employees were today charged at the Sessions Court here with submitting false claims worth RM8,400 to provide food and drinks for a programme two years ago.
PAIP operations assistant Noorhasnida Alias, 43, and quality management and health, safety, and environment section head Mohd Nizar Zainun, 42, pleaded not guilty after the charges were separately read by the court interpreter in front of judge Sazlina Safie.
Noorhasnida and Nizar were accused of conspiring to defraud Paip by using a false document to obtain payment for food and drinks.
Noorhasnida is accused of submitting a fraudulent claim of RM4,400 for a nonexistent program and services that were never provided.
For the second offence: she is accused of conspiring with Nizar to defraud PAIP using a false document to obtain payment for food and drinks for a programme held on Feb 24-25 in 2022. The false document claimed a total of RM5,490, while only RM1,940 was actually spent.
She allegedly committed the offences at the PAIP office here on Dec 21, 2021 and March 2, 2022, respectively.
The offences are under Section 28(1)(c) of the MACC Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24(2) of the same act which carries a maximum 20-year jail term and a fine not less than five times of the false claim sum or RM10,000, or whichever higher upon conviction.
Meanwhile, Nizar is accused of defrauding PAIP by submitting a false document to claim payment for food and drinks for a nonexistent programme. The false claim amounted to RM4,400.
For the second offence, he was charged with deceiving PAIP by using a document to supply food and drinks for participants at the programme between Feb 24 and Feb 25, 2022, amounting RM5,490 but the total was only RM1,940.
He allegedly committed them at the Paip office here on Dec 30, 2021 and Feb 28, 2022, respectively.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Fadhli Mohd appeared for the prosecution while Noorhasnida was represented by lawyer Mohd Zali Shaari.
Fadhli proposed RM5,000 bail for each charge along with additional conditions to Noorhasnida to surrender her passport to the court and report to the MACC office every month till the case is over.
Zali pleaded for a minimum bail saying his client is a single mother, who has to support a school-going child and her 64-year-old mother, and that she managed to raise only RM7,000 for bail.
In mitigation, Nizar, who was unrepresented, said he has been suspended from duties and had to support four children along with his parents.
Sazlina fixed bail at RM4,000 for each charge with one surety, and ordered both of them to surrender their passports to the court and report to the MACC office every month till the case is over.
She fixed Oct 15 for mention.