JOHOR BARU: The former headmaster of a moral rehabilitation centre under the Social Welfare Department has been charged with misappropriating RM43,000.
Mohd Baharudin Admin, 45, pleaded not guilty after the charges were read out before Sessions judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Arifin Ismail here on Wednesday (Sept 25).
According to the charge sheet, the accused allegedly misappropriated funds amounting to RM15,718.20, RM4,500, RM9,380, and RM13,500, in excess claims of payment from a catering company to the Johor Social Welfare Department.
The offence allegedly took place at a bank in Jalan Padi Emas 6/1 in Tampoi, between Jan 6 and Sept 25, 2021.
The charges were framed under Section 403 of the Penal Code for misappropriation of property, punishable by imprisonment of between six months and five years with whipping and a fine upon conviction.
The accused also pleaded not guilty to four alternative charges of dishonestly using fake documents that he claimed to be genuine forms of the Asrama Akhlak (Lelaki) Kempas to submit false claims.
The offences were allegedly committed at the department’s office in Jalan Ayer Molek between July and October 2021.
The alternative charges were framed under Section 471 of the Penal Code for using forged documents, read together with Section 28(1)(c) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act (MACC) 2009 and punishable under Section 465 of the same Act.
If convicted, the accused faces up to two years in jail, or a fine, or both.
The case was prosecuted by MACC prosecution officers Mohd Yasri Yahya and Mohammad Riduwan Mohammad Radzi, while the accused was represented by Khairul Azwad Sariman and Mohd Syahmi Nawawi.
Yasri proposed that bail be set at RM20,000 for all the charges with one surety, with additional terms for the accused to report to the MACC office here once a month, and to surrender his international passport to the court, if applicable.
Khairul Azwad, in mitigation, requested that the bail amount be reduced to no more than RM10,000 and that the additional conditions be waived as the charges were bailable offences.
He added that the accused, who is currently as an assistant community development officer, has given full cooperation throughout the investigation and has to provide for his five children aged four to 13.
The court subsequently set bail at RM10,000 with one local surety for all charges, and set next mention as well as document submissions on Oct 24.
The accused posted bail.
