KUALA LUMPUR: Former Sabah Infrastructure Development Minister Datuk Peter Anthony told the Sessions Court here on Wednesday (Feb 9) that a friend of his had never used the computer in his office to draft a supporting letter for a systems maintenance contract at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).

       Anthony, 51, said prosecution witness Mohd Shukur Mohd Din’s testimony that such a thing had happened was not true as he (Mohd Shukur) had never once stepped into his office located at Plaza Damai in Kota Kinabalu for that purpose.

       "The witness’ (Mohd Shukur) testimony that he had returned to my office to collect a printed copy of the letter is also a lie,” he said during examination-in-chief by counsel S. Devanandan on the first day of his defence trial on charges of falsifying a letter for a Mechanical and Electrical (M&E) system maintenance and services contract at UMS in 2014.

       Anthony said he was rarely in his office and there was only one computer that his secretary often uses in the office on a daily basis.

       Questioned if Devanandan had ever informed him of Mohd Shukur’s presence in his office, Anthony replied: "Never”.

       During submissions in the prosecution's case, Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin told the court that based on Mohd Shukur’s testimony, Anthony had falsified the document as he had typed the title on the letter after Mohd Shukur left the draft headline of the supporting letter blank, only to find the next day that it had been filled with a date, title and content.

       In addition, Anthony told the court that he did not have the authority to instruct any top UMS officer to prepare a supporting letter regarding the contract at the university.

       The trial before Judge Azura Alwi continues on Thursday (Feb 10).

       On Dec 14 last year, the Sessions Court ordered Anthony to enter his defence on the charge, after finding that the prosecution had succeeded in proving a prima facie case against him.

       Anthony was charged as the managing director of Syarikat Asli Jati with having falsified a letter from the office of UMS deputy vice-chancellor dated June 9, 2014, by inserting a false statement with intention to cheat.

       The offence was allegedly committed at the office of the Prime Minister’s Principal Private Secretary at the Federal Government Administrative Centre, Putrajaya, between June 13 and Aug 21, 2014. - Bernama