SHAH ALAM: Social media influencer couple Mohd Hazalif Mohd Hazani, popularly known as Alif Teega, and his wife, Aisyah Hijanah Azhari, were slapped with 10 joint charges for misappropriating RM1,526,372 in donations purportedly meant for the poor, flood victims and orphans three years ago.
Hazalif, who was clad in a blue long-sleeved shirt and Aisyah in an all-black jubah, pleaded not guilty after the charges were read out to them before Sessions Court judge Awang Kerisnada Awang Mahmud.
The couple said they understood the charges and wanted to proceed with the trial.
On all charges, Hazalif, 30, and Aisyah, 26, were accused of having the common intention to dishonestly misappropriate the donations. The largest sum was RM425,890.64 purportedly meant for the "Infaq Bantuan Untuk Mangsa Banjir" programme.
The other programmes were "Infaq Pek Makanan Untuk Fakir Miskin di Mekah Dan Madinah", "Sedekah Set Pakaian Raya Buat Anak Yatim", "Sedekah Set Pakaian Lelaki Perempuan Untuk Mangsa Banjir", "Bantuan Banjir Di Kelantan and Terengganu (Set Pakaian Muslimah)", "Sedekah Pek Makan & Sedekah Qurban Di Mekah 2024", "Projek Infaq Kurma" and "Infaq Al-Quran di Masjidil Haram & Masjid Nabawi" programmes.
They allegedly committed the offences at the CIMB and Maybank branch in Bandar Baru Bangi between May 2021 and July this year.
All the charges under Section 403 of the Penal Code read with Section 34 carry a jail term of not less than six months and a maximum of five years; caning and a fine upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Farah Yasmin Salleh asked the court to impose bail of RM50,000 on each accused for all charges. As additional conditions, she said the accused must surrender their passports to the court and report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) monthly until case disposal.
She also informed the court that on Friday, Hazalif was charged with two counts of misappropriation at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court and had his passport impounded there.
In mitigation, defence lawyer Mohd Shahrullah Khan said the couple had cooperated with the MACC throughout the investigations and would continue to do so.
He said the couple pledged to attend all court proceedings, aside from reporting to the Putrajaya MACC monthly.
"They have also agreed with the bail sum proposed by the prosecution and they will cooperate with the court," he said, adding that Aisyah's passport was being held by the MACC.
After hearing the submissions, Awang Kerisnada said he agreed with the bail sum recommended by the prosecution, describing it as a reasonable amount.
He also imposed several conditions on the couple and asked them to listen carefully to the instructions of the court.
"The conditions are to report to the Putrajaya MACC on the first week of the month. And as the first accused's (Hazalif) passport has been given to the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, the second accused's (Aisyah) passport is to be given to this court.
"Thirdly, this is important. Both accused cannot be in contact with any witnesses, except for the investigating officer, who can contact the accused for official matters of the case."
Both Hazalif and Aisyah nodded to the conditions set.
Nov 27 was set for mention.
On Friday, Hazalif claimed trial to two counts of misappropriating RM63,605.48 in donations, derived from donations for iftar and qurban programmes, at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Friday.
Hazalif is out on RM50,000 bail imposed by judge Azura Alwi. Hazalif was accused of dishonestly misusing RM36,047.35 for iftar programmes in Makkah, Syria and Palestine at the CIMB Bank branch at KL Gateway on April 26. He was alleged to have dishonestly misused RM27,558.