KUANTAN: A former fire station chief was acquitted and discharged by the High Court here on Tuesday (Jan 6) on 10 charges of awarding food supply contracts worth RM36,279.69 to a company owned by his wife.
Justice Samry Masri ordered Sheikh Hassan Sheikh Zainuddin, 61, to be freed after allowing his appeal to set aside the conviction and sentence imposed by the Sessions Court.
Sheikh Hassan was charged with using his position as the Peramu station chief for gratification by awarding contracts to Puncak Cahaya Azam Enterprise, owned by his wife, for the supply of food for various programmes held at the station between March 2014 and Aug 3, 2015.
The contracts were worth between RM1,075 and RM7,500 each.
He was charged under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which carries up to 20 years' jail and a fine of not less than five times the sum or value of the gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if found guilty.
On March 16, 2022, the Sessions Court sentenced Sheikh Hassan to a total of 180 months’ jail and fined him RM194,062.10, in default a further 60 months’jail, for the offence. – Bernama
