Eight medical assistants charged
Eight medical assistants claimed trial at the Sessions Court in Kota Kinabalu yesterday to charges of making false over me claims totaling RM126,757.24.
KOTA KINABALU: Eight medical assistants claimed trial at the Sessions Court here yesterday to separate charges of making false overtime claims totaling RM126,757.24.
Mohd Rosidih Mohd Said, 38, Zulkifli Arun, 28, Terence Linchos, 38, Juraineh Musalim, 27, Jaduin Untop, 30, Noor Salim Mohd Zin, 27, Mohd Akmal Hafiz Mohamad Ariff, 26, and Naza Fadirul @Mick Ab Satar, 33, were produced before judge Abu Bakar Manat during the court proceedings which started at 10.57am until about 2pm.
Mohd Rosidih, Zulkifli, Terence, Jaduin, Noor Salim, Mohd Akmal and Naza were each charged with five counts of submitting false overtime claims statement for the months of January until May, 2016.
The total claims made by each person were RM16,696.10, RM14,065.91, RM18,829.44, RM19,992.63, RM13,466.89, RM12,842.26 and RM22,216.61, respectively.
Juraineh was charged with three counts of making similar false overtime claims statements for the months of March until May, 2016, amounting to RM8,647.40.
The alleged false overtime claims statements contained false details of the accused persons working outside of the normal working hours which they did not actually perform.
All of the accused persons, who are working at the Ophthalmology Clinic (eye clinic) in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital One, here, were accused of committing the offence at the Sabah Accountant General's Department in Wisma Perindustrian here between February 1 and June 30, 2016.
The offence is framed under Section 18 of the Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24 (2) of the same Act, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years or a fine of not less than five times of the sum, or value of the false overtime claims or RM10,000, whichever is higher, on conviction.
Meanwhile, Noor Salim is also facing five alternative charges of using the false overtime claims statements as genuine, framed under Section 471 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 465 of the same Code.
The indictment carries a jail term of up to two years or a fine or to both, upon conviction.
Mohd Akmal and Naza were also accused of abetting the false overtime claims under Section 28 (1)(c) of the MACC Act 2009, read together under Section 18 of the Act and punishable under Section 24 (2) of the same Act.
Mohd Akmal was charged with four counts of abetting the false overtime claims under the name Noor Salim for the months of February until May, 2016.
Naza was charged with of 15 counts of abetting the false overtime claims under the names of Rosidih, Noor Salim, Zulkifli, Jaduin and Mohd Akmal for the months of January until May 2016 and under the name of Juraineh for the months of March until May 2016.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Rozanna Abdul Hadi told the court that the offences is nonbailable.
However, she suggested a bail amount of between RM20,000 and RM50,000, fully deposited if the court allowed bail on the accused persons.
She also said that the total amount of false overtime claims involved showed the losses suffered by the government.
Counsel Dominic Chew, who represented all the accused, prayed for the court bail with RM5,000 deposit to be allowed.
He said that all of his clients who had served in the Health Department between five and 15 years had no disciplinary actions during their services.
Dominic also said that the eye clinic, which is one of the busiest here, was still in need of the expertise of his clients.
The court fixed October 10 this year for pre-trial case management and ordered all the accused to surrender their international passports, if any, and to report to the MACC office once a month.
Mohd Rosidih, Zulkifli, Terence, Jaduin, Noor Salim and Mohd Akmal are released on bail of RM20,000 each with RM10,000 deposited with one local surety, pending disposal of the case.
Juraineh and Naza were allowed bail of RM20,000 and RM30,000 with RM8,000 and RM15,000 deposited with a local surety, respectively.