FORMER MARII CEO GETS ONE YEAR JAIL, FINE FOR DECEIVING BOD

KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 (Bernama) -- A former chief executive officer (CEO) of an automotive institute was sentenced to one year in prison and fined RM100,000 by two Sessions Courts today for fraudulently securing an RM6.4 million automotive training contract and receiving RM5 million in cash between 2019 and 2021.

The courts ordered both prison sentences against the former CEO of the Malaysian Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii), Datuk Mohamad Madani Sahari, to run concurrently from today.

In the first instance, Judge Rozina Ayob sentenced Mohamad Madani, 57, to one year in prison and fined him RM100,000 after he pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of deceiving MARii's board of directors (BOD) into believing that LPS Learning Platform's contract price was RM6.4 million when it was actually RM2.3 million.

His actions led the board to award an RM6.4 million contract to the company, appointing it as a training provider for the Central, East Coast, Southern, Sabah, and Sarawak regions.

Rozina also ordered the accused to serve an additional three-month prison term if he failed to settle the fine.

The offences were committed at a hotel on Jalan Stesen Sentral Dua here on Dec 14, 2019. He was charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which carries between one and ten years of imprisonment, with a fine and caning, upon conviction.

Then, Judge Suzana Hussin sentenced him to one year in prison and ordered the confiscation of his assets worth RM3.4 million after he pleaded guilty to another alternative charge of receiving RM5 million in cash for himself from a 49-year-old man at a bank in Section 15, Shah Alam on July 8, 2021.

He was charged under Section 165 of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum imprisonment of two years or a fine, or both upon conviction. 

However, the 41 initial main charges under Section 403 and Section 420 of the Penal Code, Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act, and Section 4 of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFPUAA) against Mohamad Madani were taken into consideration under Section 171A of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Deputy public prosecutors Law Chin How, Mohd Asraf Mohd Tahir, Haresh Prakash Somiah, Nurul Atiqah Mohd Alias, and Noor Syafina Mohd Radzuan handled the prosecution, while the accused was represented by lawyers Azizul Shariman and Ariff Azami Hussein.

-- BERNAMA