USM lecturer charged with abusing position
BUTTERWORTH: A Universiti Sains Malaysia ( USM) lecturer pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court here yesterday to nine counts of using his position to obtain gratification for a younger sibling.
Badaruddin Mohamed, 53, made the plea to all the charges, which were read out separately, before judge Nizam Zakaria.
On seven of the charges, Badaruddin was charged in his capacity as director at the USM Strategic Communication Office, having abused the position by approving a company, MK Urusniaga ( M) Sdn Bhd, which belonged to his brother, Mustafa Kamal Mohamed, to supply various materials and souvenirs, such as PA System and souvenir glass, all worth RM153,793, to the USM Strategic Communication Office between Sept 22, 2011 and Nov 23, 2012.
For the remaining two charges, Badaruddin was charged in his capacity as head of USM’s Sustainable Tourism Research Cluster, to approve the same company to supply 30 units of souvenirs glass, worth RM3,450 and office biometric, worth RM2,920, to the Sustainable Tourism Research Cluster office between Sept 5, 2011 and May 14, 2012.
All the charges were framed underSection23(1)oftheMalaysian Anti- Corruption Commission (MACC() Act 2009 , which provides an imprisonment for up to 20 years and fine of not less than five times the value of the gratification, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if found guilty.
The court allowed Badaruddin bail of RM24,500 in four sureties for all the charges and fixed Nov 29 for mention.
The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor from MACC Amer Abu Bakar Abdullah, while Badaruddin was represented by lawyer Rahmatullah Baharuden. — Bernama