'No misuse of school funds' claim
Published on: Friday, March 27, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Former Assistant Treasurer of the SRK Sacred Heart Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), S. Jayabalan, said he is puzzled over PTA President Simon Linus's statement that there is still no action taken on the alleged misappropriation of RM38,000 from its accounts. He said the police and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had conducted investigations accordingly."The so-called missing RM38,000 is misleading. The alleged amount is RM39,745. Either Simon does not understand the issue or is trying to cover up the weaknesses during his tenure as the PTA President," he said, when contacted.ADVERTISEMENT Jayabalan, who served as Assistant Treasurer from September 1, 2012 till June 18, 2013, was commenting on a Daily Express report that the SRK Sacred Heart PTA was disappointed that no action was taken on the alleged embezzlement of RM38,000. Linus was quoted as saying that an accountant was appointed to look into the accounts and she verified that the amount was missing.Jayabalan urged all parents to attend the coming PTA Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday (March 28). "You will be able to see the whole scenario and who is actually misappropriating SRK Sacred Heart PTA funds," he said.Jayabalan said the Financial Statement of the PTA Account for the period from January 1, 2013 to June 18, 2013 was prepared by him and audited by the PTA Auditor on July 13, 2013. ADVERTISEMENT "The Auditor's report certified there is no wrongdoing and that the financial statement is in order. I had presented the very same Financial Statement of the PTA account to the Committee Members, and the school administration in the presence of the representative from the Kota Kinabalu District Education Office on July 25, 2013 as requested by the PTA President. "The same financial statement was counterchecked by a special committee (chaired by the Vice-President of PTA) on September 2, 2013. The special committee presented their findings to the PTA Committee Members on September 3, 2013. They, too, concluded that the financial statement is in order," the former Assistant Treasurer explained.
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According to Jayabalan, the President had repeatedly indicated that he wanted to lodge a police report on this matter but never did. "Since he has not reported this case to the police, I myself lodged a police report on September 24, 2013. The outcome of police investigation showed that there was no wrongdoing," he said.However, after the police clearance, one individual (under the Whistleblower Act) lodged a report to the MACC on the same matter. The MACC conducted their investigation and also confirmed there was no wrongdoing.On the other hand, Jayabalan said he discovered that the PTA had spent about RM30,000 to celebrate the 110th anniversary of the school on January 4, 2014. "I also came to know that the organiser had pledged to the PTA Committee Members not to use any PTA funds for that function, simply because they were getting sponsorship."However, there was no declaration of the sponsorship and donation (if any) collected for the event. As far as I know, the monies spent on that event was supposed to be payment for the computer classes. As a result, the PTA now owes RM35,000 to the company which had conducted computer classes in 2013," he pointed out.On the issue of his improper appointment as Assistant Treasurer (as raised by Linus), Jayabalan is baffled as to how his appointment was improper when in fact he was officially appointed during the PTA AGM held on September 1, 2012.Subsequently, he was elected for the same post during the PTA AGM on May 25, 2013. "My appointment was suggested by the school headmaster during the Committee Members' meeting, and later proposed by the President himself during the PTA AGM on September 1, 2012. It was recorded in the Minutes of the AGM as a new post," he said.Ever since his appointment as Assistant Treasurer in 2012, Jayabalan was given the task to recover a big sum of PTA collection fees for 2011 and 2012, which has yet to be banked into the PTA account. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"I also managed to collect some PTA collection fees for 2010. The monies were deposited into the PTA account in 2012. The task assigned to me entailed handling all recordings and preparation for payments," he recalled. Jayabalan was also appointed as Acting Treasurer on May 8, 2013 until the PTA AGM on May 25, 2013. On June 18, 2013, after preparing the financial statement, he ceased to hold the post and a new Treasurer was officially appointed to take over from him.