Siblings fined for using fake documents to get tender

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KOTA KINABALU: Two siblings received hefty fine from a Sessions Court here on Tuesday for three joint charges of using as genuine three current bank statements in order to get a tender to supply cooked food for a boarding school in Tawau.

Judge Abu Bakar Manat imposed a total of RM18,000 fine for Sharifah Norhafizah Syed Abdul Hamid and a total of RM24,000 fine for Syed Hairul Nizam after they pleaded guilty to their charges under Section 471 of the Penal Code punishable under Section 465, read together with Section 34, both of the Penal Code.

The indictment provides for a jail term of up to two years or a fine, or both, upon conviction.

On the first to the third charges, Sharifah, 32, was fined RM6,000 each, in default, three months’ jail while her brother was fined RM8,000, in default four months’ jail each.

In passing the sentence, the judge held that the fine amount for Sharifah was lower than Syed, 41, as her role in this case was only as a registered owner.

The three charges stated that the two accused persons had used as genuine these three statements dated July, August and September 31, 2016 in order to get the tender at the State Education Ministry on November 24, 2016.

The facts of the case stated that on January 23, 2019, a report was lodged to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission that the three statements used to bid for the tender were fake.

Following the report, the accused persons were apprehended on January 14, 2019 and June 5, 2020 respectively for further investigation.

In pleading for a lenient sentence, counsel Azhier Farhan Arisin, who represented both the accused persons, prayed among others, for a non-custodial sentence be imposed on his clients.

The counsel also said that both the accused persons were remorseful with what they had done and by pleading guilty to their charges, the duo had saved a lot of court’s time.

In reply, the prosecution pressed for a deterrent sentence taking into account that the two accused persons had committed a serious offence.