ALOR STAR – The Sessions Court here fined six contractors RM50,000 each after they admitted to submitting falsified bank statements to secure a tender two years ago.
Judge Harmi Thamri Mohamad passed down the sentence after all the accused, who were charged separately, pleaded guilty to dishonestly submitting falsified bank statements to secure a solid waste collection tender from E-Idaman Sdn Bhd.
The accused were Zulhilmi Abdul Jabar, 43; Mohd Yusrizal Ismail, 43; Muhammad Hairi Md Ismail, 38; Ranzi Halim, 51; Muhammad Amir Che Azid, 36; and Badaruddin Mohamad, 40.
According to the facts of the case, all the accused had dishonestly submitted falsified bank statements of their respective companies to apply for a solid waste collection and public cleaning management tender in the northern region.
The banking statement was altered to convince E-Idaman that their companies met the required financial status to operate the tender.
They had committed the offence in January 2019 at Wisma Idaman, Environment Idaman (Kedah & Perlis) in Lebuhraya Sultanah Bahiyah here.
The charge was filed under Section 471 of the Penal Code, punishable under Section 465 of the same act.
It carries up to two years’ jail or fine, or both, upon conviction.
Lawyer Syed Fakhruzzaman Syed Mansor represented Muhammad Hairi, Ranzi and Badaruddin while the other three accused were represented by lawyer Intan Nursyafina Baharudin.
In mitigation, both lawyers pleaded for leniency as their clients had saved the court time by entering the guilty plea and had regretted their action.
They also told the court that their clients were facing financial constraints after their tenders were terminated in 2020 by E-Idaman after finding discrepancies on their companies’ bank statements.
E-Idaman had also forfeited the bond paid by each of the companies.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy public prosecutor Rehab Abdul Shukur who stood for prosecution urged the court to pass a punitive punishment as a deterrent to the accused and as a lesson to the public.
In passing down the sentence, Judge Harmi Thamri urged all of the accused to repent.
“All the earnings from the tender was gained through a deceitful act. Yet, you used the money to support your family.
“That is a sinful act. You should be sorry for what you have done and repent,” he told all the accused.
It was reported in January that MACC had hauled up over a dozen suspects in their probe into companies that secured tenders worth millions of ringgit from E-Idaman using falsified banking documents.
Source: NEW STRAITS TIMES
