KOTA KINABALU: An administrative officer pleaded not guilty on Thursday (Feb 24) to allegations of abusing his position to approve his wife's documents for a quotation for the purchase of a government department vehicle worth about RM15,000 in 2018.

       The accused, Mohaidy Tabin, 43, was charged before Tawau Sessions Court Judge Awang Krisnada Awang Mahmud on Thursday.

       According to the charge, the accused, who was the Tawau Insolvency Department branch chief as well as its Quotation Committee chairman, had used his position to approve a RM15,000 tender bid by his wife for a used Toyota Fortuner from the department on Oct 18, 2018.

       Mohaidy was charged with committing an offence 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.

       If convicted, the accused can be sentenced to not more than 20 years of imprisonment and a fine of not less than five times the amount or value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

       The court set bail for the accused at RM9,000 with a local surety, while April 8 will be the mention date for case management.

       The judge also ordered the accused to report to the MACC office once a month, hand over his passport to the court and be prohibited from approaching witnesses.

       The prosecution was led by Rekhraj Singh while the accused was represented by lawyer Jhesseny P Kang.