Kota Kinabalu: Three men were charged with making fake claims amounting to RM882,560 related to a community project in Keningau and also abetting in committing the offences.
Junaidi Juling, 35, Mohd Rahmad Ambotou, 33, and Sainal Tamin pleaded not guilty separately before Sessions Court Judge Abu Bakar Manat Friday to the charges against them.
Each of them has three charges.
On the first count, Junaidi was accused of using forged receipts of the PSS Keningau 2 invoice copy to claim the transportation cost for the Community Drumming Project for September 2019 amounting to RM170,240.
On the second count, he allegedly used the same fake documents to claim the transportation cost for the same project amounting to RM298,480 for October 2019.
On the third count, Junaidi was accused of using the same forged receipts to claim the transportation cost amounting to RM413,840 for the same project for November 2019.
All the charges stated that the project distribution area was Pagalungan where the contract period was from April 1 to Dec 31, 2019.
Junaidi allegedly submitted the fake documents to the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) office in Keningau on Oct 1, 2019.
The offence, under Section 471 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 468 of the same Code, carries a jail term of up to seven years and shall be fined, or a fine, on conviction.
The court set Sept 20 for pre-trial case management and released Junaidi on a bail of RM30,000 with RM10,000 deposited in a local surety.
Junaidi, who was not represented, was also ordered to report to Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office in Sandakan once in two months, as well as his international or limited passports, if any, to be impounded by the court.
The court also warned Junaidi to not tamper with the prosecution witnesses.
Meanwhile, Mohd Rahmad and Sainal, on the first to third counts, were accused of abetting Junaidi in submitting all the forged documents to claim the transportation costs for the same project at the same place and time.
The duo were charged under Section 109 of the Penal Code, read together with 471 of the same Code, and punishable under Section 468 of the same Code, which carries a jail term of up to seven years and shall be fined, or a fine, on conviction.
They were offered bail of RM30,000 each, with RM15,000 to be deposited for Sainal and RM8,000 for Mohd Rahmad.
The same additional conditions as Junaidi were also imposed on Sainal and Mohd Rahmad who were also not represented.
Their case management also had been fixed on the same day as Junaidi.
MACC Prosecuting Officer Norsham Saharom appeared for the prosecution.
