A FORMER executive of a company was charged in the Kuantan Sessions Court today with 10 counts of falsifying RM320,143 in invoices over payment for fire safety equipment.

Mohd Hafez Manap, 38, from Sungai Karang Darat, pleaded not guilty to all the charges read before judge Ahmad Zamzani Mohd Zain.

The accused, as a fire and emergency executive, was alleged to have committed the offence involving invoices with false details for payment of the supply of various fire safety equipment, which he knew was never supplied.

He was accused of committing the act at his office in the Gebeng industrial area between January 26 and September 21, 2021, under section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.

The judge allowed bail at RM60,000 in one surety with the condition that the accused’s passport is handed over to the court, and ordered him to report to the MACC office every month until the case is completed.

The court fixed March 3 for mention. 

Meanwhile, a former Felda supervisor entrusted to pay salaries to settlers in Felda Sebertak, Bera, was sentenced to six months in prison and fined RM8,000 in default three months’ jail for forging documents with regard to salary payments to the settlers, and then using the money to participate in Forex investments.

Muhammad Aizat Ziadi, 34, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to the amended charge.

He was accused of falsifying the signatures of settlers between November and December 2020 with the intention to mislead the management into believing that the settlers had signed the documents as proof they had received the money.

The charge was brought under section 464(a) of the penal code, which carries a maximum jail term of two years, or a fine, or both.

Counsel Mazura Ismail, in mitigation, said her client, who had lost his job and marriage due to the act, had repented, and was now earning RM50 per day as a restaurant assistant while working hard to repay the affected settlers.

MACC deputy public prosecutor Rifah Izzati Abdul Mutalif, meanwhile, requested a deterrent sentence as the accused had tarnished the image and integrity of Felda while using money meant for settlers for his own benefit. – Bernama, February 3, 2023.