MPKK dept director pleads not guilty to suggesting his father's company be given project

ALOR SETAR: The director of Kulim Municipal Council's (MPKK) engineering department pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court here on Wednesday (Jan 5) to three charges of soliciting for projects for his family members and falsifying documents, two years ago.

The accused, Muhammad Tarmymy Che Ani, 41, made the plea after the charges were read to him before judge Harmi Thamri Mohamad.

According to the first charge, the accused had used his position to suggest to the Kedah State Procurement Board that the company owned by his father and younger sister carry out resurfacing and maintenance of a road in Taman Tiram, Kulim at a cost of RM200,000.

He is alleged to have committed the offence at the Kedah State Treasury and Finance Office, Wisma Darul Aman, here, on Dec 12, 2019.

The offence under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24(1) of the same act, provides for a jail sentence not exceeding 20 years and a fine not less than five times the value of the bribe.

On the second and third charge, he is accused of using falsified documents, namely, the Minutes of the Price Quotation Selection Committee Meeting dated Nov 27, 2019 and Minutes of the Price Consultation Committee on Phase 2 of MPKK’s Marris Project Allocation 2019 dated Nov 27, 2019.

Both offences are alleged to have been committed by the accused at the Kedah Treasury and Finance Office, Wisma Darul Aman, on Dec 5 and 26, 2019.

For both offences, the accused was charged under Section 471 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 465 of the same code, which provides for a jail term of up to two years or a fine or both.

MACC prosecuting officer, Mohd Zulfadli Azharudin who appeared for the prosecution, asked that the court set the bail at RM50,000 for the accused, while the defence counsel, M. Puveneswaran applied for a bail of RM20,000 as his client has to support his wife and child.

The judge then allowed bail of RM30,000 with one surety and set Feb 9 for case mention and submission of documents. - Bernama