Former Melaka Works director jailed 22 years for graft
MELAKA: Former Melaka Public Works Department director Datuk Khalid Omar was jailed a total of 22 years and six months, and fined RM36mil, after the Sessions Court here found him guilty of 18 charges of money laundering and corruption amounting to over RM5.4mil.
Justice Mohd Nasir Nordin ordered the sentences to run concurrently from the date of sentencing and granted a seven-day stay of execution for the accused to file an appeal with the High Court.
The judge found that Khalid, 58, failed to raise reasonable doubt on the charges he faced, five of which were under Section 14 (1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, AntiTerrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
The five counts were committed when Khalid had in his possession RM206,396.16 in Amanah Saham Bumiputera 2, RM506,735.92 in Tabung Haji, RM1,984,797.08 in Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 and RM2,135,634.13 in Amanah Saham Didik accounts as well as RM375,200 in cash.
The offences took place between Sept 1, 2015, and Aug 15, 2016.
For 13 other offences under Section 165 of the Penal Code, Khalid, as a civil servant, was accused of accepting bribes amounting to RM196,200 via 13 transac- tions from eight companies and individuals between March 2014 and August 2016.
The accused is liable to 15 months’ jail for each of the charges, meaning he will serve only 15 months concurrently for his offences.
His fine involved five times the amount or net value of the possession or RM5mil, whichever is higher.
Earlier, Khalid’s counsel Datuk Baljit Singh appealed to the court for a minimal sentence as his client had served the government for 34 years without any disciplinary problem during his career.
However, Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission prosecution officers Ahmad Akram Gharib and Mohd Khairulazaman Ghazali told the court that the sentence should serve as a deterrent to other civil servants and that the case was of public interest.
The court also ordered Khalid to be jailed an additional five months if he failed to settle the fine while maintaining the bail of RM250,000, imposed when he was first charged.