Ex-SESB manager jailed and fined
Published on: Wednesday, February 09, 2022
By: Jo Ann Mool
Kota Kinabalu: A 51-year-old former senior manager in a government-linked company was jailed a total of 18 months and fined RM295,000 on three counts of corrupt practices, five years ago.Sufian Abdul Ghani (pic), a former senior manager of SESB Warehouse Management and Logistics Department, pleaded guilty before Special Corruption Court Judge Abu Bakar Manat to all the charges framed against him.
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Sufian, on the first count, had corruptly received RM44,000 from one Nordin Abdillah through a bank cheque belonging to Shadaz Enterprise, which was deposited into a bank account under the name of Binoun Jaya company, which belonged to one Sham Charles William, on March 9, 2017 at Inanam CIMB Bank branch.
On the second count, Sufian had corruptly received RM5,000 from one Phang Thou Kim into his bank account on Oct 16, 2017 at Karamunsing Maybank branch, Kota Kinabalu.
Sufian, on the third count, had corruptly received a cheque for RM10,000 from Phang on May 4, 2018 at a house in Kg Seroja, Likas.
The charges stated that the said money totalling RM59,000 was as an inducement to ease all work claims that have been done by Shadaz Enterprise to the SESB Warehouse Management and Logistics Department and also to ensure that Shadaz Enterprise gets the emergency work project from the said department.
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Sufian was jailed six months on each charge and was ordered to pay a fine of RM220,000 or three months’ jail on the first count; fined RM25,000 or one month’s jail on the second count; and fined RM50,000 one month’s jail on the third count. The court ordered the jail terms to run concurrently from Tuesday.
Each charge under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 is punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act, which provides an imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of RM10,000 or not less than five times the amount of the bribe, whichever is higher, on conviction.
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Earlier, counsel Viviana Chew, representing Sufian, requested for a lenient sentence and for the sentences to be run concurrently.
Chew submitted, among others, that Sufian had served SESB for 29 years before being terminated from the service and later worked as a part-time tutor at a local private college.
Sufian, who is married with five children, has health problems said Chew, adding it was his first offence and by pleading guilty he had saved the court’s time.
MACC Prosecuting Officer Norsham Baharom pressed for a deterrent sentence as a lesson to Sufian, the public and would-be offenders as the corrupt case is a serious offence.
Sufian failed to pay his fine.
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