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Kota Kinabalu: Two sibling entrepreneurs were fined a total of RM42,000 by the Special Corruption Court here on three counts of using false bank statements to get a two year tender for Cooked Supply Services to school hostel with a contract value of RM1.7 million.

Sharifah Norhafizah Syed Abdul Hamid, 32, and her brother Syed Hairul Nizam Syed Abdul Hamid, 41, pleaded guilty before Sessions Court Judge Abu Bakar Manat, to the alternative charges against them.

The duo admitted to the three charges of using as genuine three fake bank current account statements dated July 31, Aug 31, and Sept 30, 2016 respectively under Syarikat Kadariah Corporation for the purpose of obtaining the tender to supply cooked food for SMK Kinabutan’s hostel in Tawau for the period from April 1, 2017 until March 31, 2019.

The offence took place at the State Education Department here on Nov 24, 2016.

Norhafizah was ordered to pay a fine of RM6,000 or three months jail on each charge while Hairul was fined RM8,000 or four months jail on each charge.

In meting out the sentence, Abu Bakar held that the fine amount for Norhafizah was lower than Hairul as her role, in the case, was very minimum.

Each count framed under Section 471 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 468 of the same Code, carries a jail term of up to two years or a fine, or both, on conviction.

Earlier, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Mirchelle F. Sambatan in tendering the facts of the case, said that the company, Syarikat Kadariah Corporation was set up by Norhafizah in 2015.

The court heard that in 2016 Hairul attended a briefing on tender for Cooked Food Supply Services to Schools hostels under the Ministry of Education Malaysia for SMK Kinabutan, Tawau, for the period from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2019 with a contract value of RM1,727,100.

Hairul then purchased the tender form at the Tawau District Education Office and filled it.

Hairul also signed the form and enclosed supporting documents including three bank statements belonging to Kadariah Corporation dated July 31, Aug 31, and Sept 30, 2016, respectively, and submitted the form on Nov 24, 2016 to the State Education Department to bid for the tender.

The court further heard that in early 2017, Kadariah Corporation was successfully selected to execute the tender.

Norhafizah signed a Letter of Acceptance and Agreement for the tender and that Hairul had executed the tender.

Payment for the tender was also made by the Sabah Education Department into the Kadariah Corporation’s account, said the prosecution.

However, on Jan 23, 2019 a complaint was lodged with the MACC stating that three bank account statements, belonging to Kadariah Corporation which had been submitted to bid for the tender were false.

Norhafizah was later arrested by the MACC in the same month while Hairul was arrested on June 5, 2020 for investigation purposes, said the prosecution.

Further investigation revealed that the three bank account statements submitted to the Sabah Education Department were false, added the prosecution.

Counsel Azhier Farhan representing the siblings submitted that they were cooked food supply service entrepreneurs in Tawau and that the Kadariah Corporation was a business wholly owned by Hairul but registered in Norhafizah’s name.

Azhier said, in 2016, Hairul tried his luck in a tender to supply cooked food to a school under the Sabah State Education Department and that in order to obtain the tender, he used the registration licence of Kadariah Corporation company, which all business matters were self-managed by him without Norhafizah’s involvement.

Hairul learned that among the eligibility conditions to obtain the tender for the project is that the tenderer must have a minimum value of three per cent of the total value of the project balance in the bank account, said Azhier.

For that purpose, Hairul had attached three months Current Account bank statement belonging to the company.

Azhier submitted that the details in the bank statements such as the balance of savings in the account were true except the confirmation stamp “Certified True Copy” on the bank statements were issued by Hairul.

No other modifications were made to the bank statements except for the “Certified True Copy” stamp, added Azhier.

Azhier told the court that Hairul took such action due to the closing date for the submission of tender forms which was approaching and he feared that there will be a delay in obtaining the confirmation stamp from the bank.

To ensure that Norhafizah did not know about the matter, Hairul submitted the form along with supporting documents to the Sabah Education Department by himself, said Azhier.

Shortly after being informed that Kadariah Corporation got the contract, Hairul fulfilled all the requirements of the food supply successfully and without any shortcomings until the end of the tender period.

As the cost of food supply in the tender were high and required the rental of goods, delivery vehicles and employment of employees, the tender did not brought much profit, said Azhier.

Azhier added that in conducting the tender period Hairul shared it with two other partners and that the profit earned by Kadariah Corporation from the supply work was small according to the value of the licence leased to the two partners.

Azhier applied for a lenient sentence on the grounds that both sibling were remorseful and that the action was taken because Hairul was desperate with time constraints to submit the tender form before the closing date.

DPP Nartiah pressed for a deterrent sentence taking into account that such offence involving tender bids was rampant and urged the court to take into consideration the tender was worth RM1.7 million.

The sentence imposed on the duo would be taken as a lesson not only to them but to the public, especially to the registered owners of a business licence not to simply rent or give permission to any party to use their license without monitoring them, said Nartiah.

Registered business licence owners must know their responsibility and not only focus on the profit percentage that they could receive from the contractor who conducted the tender added Nartiah.

Both Norhafizah and Hairul paid their fines.