KOTA KINABALU (Aug 14): A husband and wife were charged at a Sessions Court here with submitting a total of RM3.6 million in false claims involving the supply of machinery and certification under the Small and Medium Industry (SMI) Assistance Programme.
The couple aged 54 and 57 pleaded not guilty to all their separate and joint charges before judge Jason Juga today.
On the first count, they were accused of abetting a company manager in submitting a set of documents containing false particulars, namely claims for MeSTI and Halal certification services in the food industry for entrepreneurs under the Sabah SMI Assistance Programme (BAIKS) 2022, including renovation works when in fact the alleged services were never carried out.
The alleged offence was committed at a department’s office here on November 11, 2022.
On the second count, they were alleged to have committed a similar offence by submitting a set of documents containing false particulars, namely claims for MeSTI, My Food Tag and Halal certification under BAIKS 2023, including renovation works which allegedly was never carried out.
This alleged offence was committed at the same department on November 2, 2023.
As for their joint charge, the couple is accused of submitting an invoice from another company dated Nov 7, 2023, along with 13 supporting delivery order documents containing false particulars.
These involved claims for the supply of 11 units of 100-litre machine retorts, two units of 150-litre machine retorts, registration and approval from the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), hydrostatic tests by DOSH, and premises registration for 13 units which were never carried out.
The alleged offence was committed at the same department on November 10, 2023.
The court set September 23 for pre-trial of the cases management.
For the first and second charges, the court set bail at RM20,000 with a RM3,000 deposit and one local surety each.
For their joint charge, the accused were released on RM20,000 bail with a RM3,000 deposit and one local surety.
The court had imposed additional conditions for the couple, including to report themselves to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission office every two months, to surrender their passports, if any, and not to contact the prosecution’s witnesses.
The couple was represented by counsel Azhier Farhan Arisin.
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