KANGAR: A former chief operating officer of a Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) subsidiary has been charged in the Sessions Court here with three counts of abuse of power involving the approval of payment vouchers worth RM8,205, in 2018.
Zunaidi Ibrahim, 51, who is currently working as a lecturer at a university in Brunei, pleaded not guilty after the charges were read before judge Norsalha Hamzah.
On the first count, Zunaidi, who was then the chief operating officer of Technopreneur At UniMAP Sdn Bhd, is charged with approving a payment voucher amounting to RM2,652.50, for Wan Khairunizam Wan Ahmad, his partner in SWZ Technology Consultant Company.
The payment was intended for gifts for International Conference on Information and Education Technology (ICIET) 2018 committee members and participants.
The offence allegedly occurred at the company’s office on Aug 2, 2018, Bernama reported.
Zunaidi faces a second charge of approving a payment voucher of RM2,900, to SWZ Technology Consultants, for the design and development of the ICIET 2018 website, at the same place on Aug 3, 2018.
He faces a third charge of using his position to approve a payment voucher amounting to RM2,652.50 for his company, related to the purchase of promotional gifts for ICIET 2018’s committee members and participants, at the same place on Sept 3, 2018.
The charges under Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 are punishable under Section 24(1) of the Act.
If convicted, he faces maximum imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount or value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
MACC deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Akmal Abdul Ghani appeared for the prosecution, while the accused was represented by lawyer Muhammad Akif Hafie Abd Halim.
Given that the accused is currently employed in Brunei, the court granted bail of RM15,000 for all charges in one surety and ordered him to report monthly to the MACC office in Limbang, Sarawak. The court set Sept 9 for mention.
