BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: The Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday (July 23) convicted the Deputy Permanent Secretary for Tourism at the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT) for offences of misconduct in public office contrary to section 12B of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Chapter 131.
Wardi Mohd Ali was appointed to the post on Nov 19, 2015 and continued to serve until his suspension in February 2021.
The defendant was found guilty of wilfully misconducting himself by being or remaining favourably disposed to two hotels in return for being allowed not to make immediate payments upon checking out. His misconduct amounted to an abuse of public trust in his position.
Investigations conducted by the Anti-Corruption Bureau found that the misconduct occurred between June 18, 2020 and Feb 23, 2021, which resulted in an accumulated unpaid invoice of about BND5,000.
Senior Magistrate Azrimah Abdul Rahman found that this misconduct was in the course of or about the defendant’s office as he had oversight over the tourism industry, including matters relating to hoteliers.
The defendant contended that he entered into credit term agreements with the hotels, and an expectation of payment existed between them.
However, the witnesses called by the prosecution testified that his position was a consideration in their decision to allow him to defer payments. While the defendant claimed this arrangement was purely an ordinary commercial transaction, the evidence suggested otherwise.
The prosecution’s case was strengthened by the defendant’s state of mind and favourable attitude towards the hotels, which were shown through text messages between the defendant and the hotel owners.
The defendant was further found guilty of wilfully misconducting himself, amounting to an abuse of public trust by bringing disrepute to his public office in allowing an event management company to transfer funds into his personal bank account on three separate occasions.
The event management company was organising an event in collaboration with MPRT, which was under the defendant’s purview.
The Senior Magistrate concluded that the defendant’s actions were deliberate, without reasonable justification and showed a serious abuse of power. His failure to act with transparency and in accordance with principles of good governance erodes the integrity of the institution.
In all instances, the court found that the defendant’s misconduct compromised public trust in his office and fell far below the standards expected of a senior public officer.
His election to remain silent when invited to give his defence reinforces that there was no reasonable explanation or excuse for his misconduct.
Having convicted the defendant and finding that there is no exceptional reason to continue granting him bail, the defendant’s bail was revoked.
The defendant is scheduled to appear in Court again on July 30, 2025 for the prosecution’s submissions on sentencing. The defendant is facing a penalty of a fine up to BND30,000 and/or imprisonment of up to seven years. - Borneo Bulletin/ANN
