JOHOR BARU: A civil servant pleaded not guilty at a Sessions Court here to four charges of making false claims totalling RM7,050 three years ago.

       The accused, Zuraiha Zakri, 38, made the plea after the charges were read out to her by the court interpreter before Judge Ahmad Kamal Arifin Ismail.

       According to the charge sheet, Zuraiha was accused of using documents containing false material particulars, namely the order of food and beverage for three different programmes that were not actually supplied as claimed inside the Delivery Order documents.

       The accused, who previously worked as an operations helper, allegedly conducted the act with the intention of deceiving her principal, Hospital Sultanah Aminah (HSA).

       Zuraiha, who is currently working as an operations helper at a government hospital in Kota Baru, Kelantan, had allegedly conducted the offence at the HSA Clinical Research Centre between July and August 2018.

       She was charged under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which is punishable under Section 24 of the same act, which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years and a fine of not less than the bribe amount or RM10,000, upon conviction.

       The case was prosecuted by MACC deputy public prosecutor Ikhwan Ihsan Jalaludin while the accused was represented by lawyer Mohd Salleh Togimin.

       Ikhwan sought RM20,000 bail for the offences but in mitigation, Salleh said his client is currently taking care of her family and her husband was only working as a clerk.

       The court then fixed bail at RM8,000 with one surety and ordered the accused to surrender her passport and report herself to the MACC office in Kota Baru every month until the case is settled.

       The court set Oct 21 for next mention.

       The accused paid the bail.