Power Abuse: Senior Assistant Fire Supt Jailed Three Years, Fined RM172,000

KUALA TERENGGANU, Aug 18 (Bernama) -- The Sessions Court here, today, sentenced a senior assistant fire superintendent to three years in jail and a fine of RM172,000, after finding him guilty of three counts of abuse of power for proposing that his family's companies undertake supply works valued at RM32,540.

Judge Dazuki Ali, meted out the punishment to Mohd Roslan Zakaria, 41, after finding that the prosecution succeeded in proving the case beyond a reasonable doubt, at the end of the defence case.

Dazuki sentenced Mohd Roslan to two years in prison and a fine of RM42,000 for the first charge; two years in prison and a fine of RM40,000 for the second charge, and three years in prison and a fine of RM90,000 for the third charge. The court also ordered that the accused to serve an additional two years in prison if he fails to pay the fines.

He also ordered that the prison sentences run concurrently, starting today. However, he granted a stay of execution pending an appeal at the High Court, while the suspension of the fines was not permitted.

According to the charges, Mohd Roslan, as a civil servant, was accused of abusing his position by proposing a quotation from his mother-in-law’s company, Pak Su Global Enterprise, for supply work involving 60 units of antennas and 30 units of charger spare parts, valued at RM8,100.

The father of three was also charged with the same offence for proposing two quotations from his brother-in-law's company, Muazzam Global Enterprise: one for the supply of 31 units of Compas Orienting (SUNTO) valued at RM7,440, and another for 10 units of life jackets and 20 units of wet suits worth RM17,000.

He was charged with committing the offences at the Eastern Region Malaysian Fire and Rescue Academy in Marang, in July and November 2016. The charges were framed under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act, and can be punished under Section 24(1) of the same law, which provides for a prison sentence of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

Deputy public prosecutor, Farah Yasmin Salleh and MACC prosecuting officer, Nur Raihan Mohd Yusof, appeared for the prosecution, while the accused was represented by lawyer, G. Ravishankar.

Earlier, Farah Yasmin pressed for a just sentence to serve as a lesson, not only to the accused, but also to the public, by taking the public interest into account.

Meanwhile, Ravishankar appealed for his client to be given a commensurate sentence, considering that this was his first offence and that he did not have the financial capacity following his suspension.

He also applied for a stay of execution of the prison sentence and fine, pending appeal to the High Court.

-- BERNAMA