KOTA KINABALU: A former director of a public college in Semporna was charged in Tawau Sessions Court on 12 counts of abuse of position by approving the purchase of flight tickets for his son and wife in 2017 to 2018.

       The accused, Saifulkahad Shariff, 54, currently a director of MARA Poly-Tech College headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, pleaded not guilty to all the charges before Judge Awang Krisnada Awang Mahmud.

       He was accused as the director of the MARA Semporna college to have abused his position to approve the Procurement Application Form for the purchase of flight tickets from Tawau to Kuala Lumpur for his wife and son between November 2017 to 7 August 2018 at the MARA college, Semporna office for a total of RM6,797.50 from a travel agency. His wife and children were not eligible for the facility.

       He was charged under Section 23 (1) of the Malaysian Anti -Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 (Act 694) which is punishable under Section 24 (1) of the same act which carries a jail term not exceeding 20 years and a fine not less than five times the amount or value of the bribe or whichever is higher.

       The court allowed bail to the accused of RM7,000 with a local surety and set April 8 as the mention date for case management.

       Meanwhile, the court ordered Saifulkahad to report to the MACC office once a month, apart from being asked to hand over his passport to the court. He was cautioned against making any contacts with witnesses.

       The prosecution was led Deputy Public Prosecutor, Nurul Izzati Sapifee while the accused was represented by lawyer, Sitti Nurul Ain Sahidah Pitting.