Former Rela officer fined and jailed for making false claims

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Azrul is being led out of the court room by MACC officers after the sentencing.

KUCHING: A former Serian District Rela officer was sentenced to two months’ jail and fined RM273,600 by the Sessions Court yesterday for making false claims six years ago.

Abdul Wali Fathir Mustapha, 29, pleaded guilty to the charge framed against him under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act, 2009.

He appeared before Judge Nixon Kennedy Kumbong who ordered him to serve another eight months’ jail if he failed to pay the fine. The custodial sentence was ordered to take effect immediately after the sentencing.  The offence was committed at the state Rela headquarters on May 3, 2012; he misled the group’s finance officer to make false claim amounting to RM54,720.

He made an allowance claim for ‘Pengakuan Kehadiran Anggota Rela Yang Bertugas Peti Undi’ for Serian District for the month of April 2012 which said 190 Rela members were on-duty then.

Abdul Wali is being escorted by MACC officers after the sentencing.

In mitigating, Abdul Wali pleaded for a lenient sentence as he’s unemployed and also the sole breadwinner of his family with young children.

Appeared unrepresented, he told the court it was his first offence, and that he was remorseful and wished to turn over a new leaf.

MACC officer Dzulkarnain Roufan Hasbi, who prosecuted, urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence considering the huge amount of claims involved. He said public interest should be observed considering the serious nature of the offence.

In the same court room, a police inspector was sentenced to 20 days in jail and fined RM25,000 in default two months’ jail for obtaining RM5,000 gratification for himself from a woman three years ago.

Azrul Izman Shadan, 35, pleaded guilty to the charge; asking money from the woman as an inducement for returning the seized gold jewelry during a drug prevention raid at a hotel room in Sibu around 4pm on March 13, 2015.

He was convicted under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009.  Azrul, who was attached to the Anti-Narcotics Department, initially pleaded not guilty when he was charged for the offence at a Sessions Court in Sibu on Sept 5 last year. He was represented by counsel Fadzillah Osman.