Contractor sent to jail after failing to pay RM1.5 million for submitting false claims

ALOR SETAR: A contractor was sent to jail today after he failed to pay a fine of RM1.5 million meted out by the Sessions Court here for submitting false claims, amounting to RM512,090 to Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), in 2014 and 2015.

Nazrul Idham Abu Nasir, 44, was sent to the Kamunting Correctional Centre in Perak to serve the imprisonment, which is for 36 months.

He was charged with six counts under Section 471 of the Penal Code which provides an imprisonment for up to two years, or fine, or both upon conviction.

Earlier, Sessions Court Judge Harmi Thamri Mohamad meted out a fine of RM500,000, in default 12 months jail, for the first, second and sixth charges after Nazrul Idham pleaded guilty to all the charges.

On the other three charges, the court applied Section 171A of the Criminal Procedure Code by taking taking into consideration offences which the accused had admitted to have committed.

Nazrul Idham was charged with using five false documents, in the form of invoices issued by Hatching Technology Sdn Bhd for the supply of service and training packages for Pusat Kecemerlangan Industri: Pembangunan Modal Insan Dalam Sektor Pemborongan dan Peruncitan, each amounting to RM98,518.

On the first charge, he was charged with committing the offence at a restaurant in front of UUM on March 10, 2015.

On the second to the fifth charge, he was charged with committing the offence at the UUM Centre for University-Industry Collaboration (CUIC) between March 17, 2015 and May 9, 2015.

On the sixth count, Nazrul Idham was charged with using an invoice for the supply of 'dashboard' for participants of a programme organised by CUIC at Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, dated Jan 21, 2014, and a Hatching Technology Sdn Bhd invoice to make claims amounting to RM19,500 .

The offence was committed at CUIC UUM in Sintok on Jan 30, 2014.

The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Tan Sew Ping, while lawyer Evawani Farisyta Mohammad represented Nazrul Idham.

-- BERNAMA