Kota Kinabalu: A 61-year-old retiree was charged with submitting fake claims amounting RM14,720.
Jaffar Matamin pleaded not guilty before Sessions Court Judge Jason Juga, Thursday.
Jaffar is accused of submitting claims for providing food and drinks to members of media in conjunction with the 2019 Keningau Saga Sports IX from Dec 5 to 13, 2019 under company Didi Enterprise.
The charge stated that the claim for the food supply in the morning, afternoon and evening were actually fake as the food and drinks were not fully supplied as stated in the claims.
He allegedly submitted the claim to Assistant Accountant Sarus Kawanding, at the Keningau District Office on Feb 18, 2020 in which the offence was intended to deceive the principal of the State Youth and Sports Ministry.
The offence under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24(2) of the same Act which provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and fine of up to five times the value of the false claims, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if found guilty.
The court set April 18 for mention and released Jaffar on bail of RM10,000 with RM2,000 deposited in a local surety.
Jaffar was also ordered to report to the MACC office once a month and his passport, if any, to be kept by the court until the disposal of his case.
MACC Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurul Izzati Sapifee appeared for the prosecution while counsel Mohamad Syazwan Shah defended Jaffar.
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