KUALA LUMPUR: A former chairman of the Pertubuhan Kebajikan Serantau Muslim pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court to misappropriating RM207,000 in donations for humanitarian aid seven years ago.
Mohd Hakim Mohd Nor, 39, was charged in his capacity as chairman of the organisation for dishonestly misappropriating the funds belonging to the non-governmental organisation.
The money was donated for humanitarian aid missions carried out in collaboration with NGOs in Myanmar, Yemen, Syria and Palestine.
He was charged yesterday with committing the offence at a bank in Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin here on Dec 27, 2019.
According to a Bernama report, the charge, under Section 403 of the Penal Code, provides a jail sentence of not less than six months and a maximum of five years with whipping or a fine, if convicted.
Deputy public prosecutor from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Asmaa’ Zamri applied for bail of RM50,000 with additional conditions that the accused must report to the MACC office near his residence at the beginning of every month, surrender his passport to the court and not interfere with prosecution witnesses.
However, lawyer Azzizul Shariman Mat Yusoff, representing Mohd Hakim, requested bail of RM10,000 because his client has to support three children who are still in school and his parents who have high blood pressure and diabetes, as well as his wife, who is self-employed with an income of RM1,500 a month.
“The accused was only told to appear in court last week, and today, he appeared in court as early as 8am. He has also given full cooperation throughout the investigation since 2025. This shows that he is not a flight risk.
“Also, the accused can only pay bail of RM10,000 today because he needs to provide more bail money since he will be charged tomorrow and the day after in the courts of Melaka and Ipoh.
“We also do not object to the additional conditions requested by the prosecution but request that the accused report to the Melaka MACC office,” said the lawyer.
Judge Azrul Darus then allowed Mohd Hakim bail of RM10,000 with one surety and also ordered him to comply with the additional conditions proposed by the prosecution before setting March 11 for mention.
On June 25 last year, the media reported that MACC had identified the chairman of an NGO in Melaka as the main suspect in a case of embezzlement amounting to RM26mil in public donations.
