KUCHING, Nov 10 — An administrative assistant with a state government agency pleaded not guilty at the Special Corruption Court here today to 16 charges involving misuse of power and forgery of documents, amounting to a total of RM189,200.
William Bong, 58, who allegedly committed all the offences between June 2019 and January 2021 at his office (State Public Works Dept) in Kuching, entered the plea after the charges were read out to him before Judge Noor Hafizah Mohd Salim.
The accused was charged with 13 offences under Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of five times the value of the gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
The other three charges were filed under Section 471 of the Penal Code, which provides for a maximum jail term of two years, a fine, or both, upon conviction.
According to the charges, William used quotation documents that he knew or had reason to believe were forged and used them as if they were genuine documents, presenting them to a local contractor company believed to be owned by a relative of the accused.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Yong Ann Nee appeared for the prosecution, along with MACC prosecuting officers Jawa Milu and Khairil Ammar Faisal.
During the proceedings, lawyer Francis Teron requested the court to consider a lower bail amount, taking into account his client’s monthly salary of RM4,900 and his responsibility to support three children, two ailing parents, and a full-time housewife wife.
He argued that a high bail amount could not be met by the accused, who has only a year and a half left before mandatory retirement and has no reason to abscond.
The prosecution argued that the proposed bail amount was reasonable and proportionate to the number of charges and the value involved, but left the matter to the court’s discretion.
Noor Hafizah then allowed bail of RM15,000 for all charges with two local sureties and set Dec 15 for case management. — Bernama