Kota Kinabalu: A man and a woman were fined a total of RM54,000 for three counts of submitting fake bank statements to the Sabah Education Department to get contracts involving RM2.08 million to supply cooked food to a hostel in Beaufort.
Sessions Court Judge Abu Bakar Manat meted out the sentence to Syah Rizal Basri, 44, and Rosainah Nusteh, 54, who pleaded guilty to the alternative charges against them, Wednesday.
Syah Rizal was fined RM10,000 or four months’ jail for each charge while Rosainah was fined RM8,000 in default three months’ jail for each charge.
On the first to third count, Syah Rizal and Rosainah had used three fake bank statements dated July 31, Aug 31, and Sept 30, 2016 under Syarikat Emas Suasa Enterprise to obtain the tender to supply cooked food to SMK Membakut hostel from March 1, 2017 until Feb 28, 2019.
They had produced the fake bank statements to the State Education Department, here, Nov 24, 2016.
The offence under Section 471 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 465 of the same Code, which carries a jail term of up to seven years or a fine, or both, on conviction.
During mitigation, counsel Korvent E Jomiji, who represented Syah Rizal, asked for a minimum fine saying that it was his client’s first offence.
Meanwhile, counsel Shahlan Jufri who defended Rosainah, also asked a lower fine saying that she only lend her business licence to Syah Rizal.
Shahlan also informed the court that it was Rosainah’s first offence and she has three children to look after.
However, Prosecuting Officer Norshan Sharom from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, urged the court to impose an appropriate sentence on the grounds that both Syah Rizal and Rosainah had obtained the contracts by using false documents.
Both Syah Rizal and Rosainah paid their fines.
