KOTA KINABALU (Bernama): Two senior officers of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in Sabah were charged at the Special Corruption Court here on Friday (June 25) on charges of submitting false claims.

       Syahruddin Muhd Saleh, 40, the deputy director of the agency was charged with three counts of submitting false receipts at MCMC Sandakan branch office through a document amounting to RM3,990 on July 24, 2014.

       He was charged with submitting false claim receipts worth RM2,000, RM290 and RM1,700 dated June 13, June 12 and June 11, 2014 respectively.

       The accused was charged under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 for all the charges, which provides for a maximum jail term of 20 years and a fine not less than five times the bribe amount or RM10, 000, whichever is higher.

       Sufri Hassan Mindar, 35, who is an assistant director at the same agency was accused of submitting false claims at Sabah MCMC and Labuan Regional office at Menara MAA here on Jan 6, 2014.

       The accused was charged with using a false document, namely an invoice dated Dec 30, 2013 for the purpose of making a fraudulent claim of RM4, 900.

       The document allegedly contained false details on the rental of sound systems, stage, fans and 20 units of hampers in conjunction with the Beaufort Begandang festival between Nov 27 and 30, 2013 when in fact the supply and purchase were not carried out.

       The accused was charged under Section 471 of the Penal Code and read together with Section 465 of the same Code, which carries a jail term of two years or a fine, or both, if convicted.

       Judge Abu Bakar Manat allowed Syahruddin and Sufri Hassan bail of RM10,000 each and set Aug 16 for re-mention of the case.

       The prosecution was conducted by MACC prosecuting officer Rekhraj Singh while the two accused were represented by lawyer Abdul Fikry Jaafar Abdullah. - Bernama