KOTA KINABALU: A project manager from a private company was charged in the Special Corruption Court here with three counts of using forged documents to make claims amounting to RM46.8 million for a road construction project.
-Advertisement-
The allegedly falsified documents were submitted to the Sabah Public Works Department to claim payment for the ‘Pembinaan Projek Persimpangan Bertingkat dan Lorong Ketiga di Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (Persimpangan (i) Jalan Lintas/Jalan Kolam (ii) Jalan Tuaran Batu 5 1/2)’.
Victor Voo Chung Sain, 51, pleaded not guilty to all charges before Sessions Court Judge Jason Juga.
Voo was charged under Section 471 of the Penal Code, punishable under Section 468 of the same Code, which carries a sentence of up to seven years’ imprisonment and a fine upon conviction.
For the first charge, Voo was accused of submitting a falsified Billed Items document dated Dec 30, 2016, for an interim payment of RM394,915.56.
For the second charge, he allegedly submitted another falsified Billed Items document dated July 31, 2017, for an interim payment of RM425,293.68.
For the third charge, Voo was accused of submitting a Site Measurement document dated Apr 24, 2018, containing a forged signature for the same project, which had a total contract value of RM46,028,504.04.
-Advertisement-
Voo was the project manager at Azam Jaya Sdn Bhd when the alleged offences took place between Dec 30, 2016, and Apr 24, 2018, at the JKR Sabah office.
The court set Apr 14 for the next case mention.
Voo was granted bail at RM15,000, with a deposit of RM8,000, and one local surety.
The court also imposed additional conditions, including requiring him to report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) once every two months, surrendering his passport, and refraining from interfering with prosecution witnesses.
The accused was represented by counsel Datuk Ram Singh and Prem Elmer Ganasan, while prosecuting officer Rekhraj Singh prosecuted the case.
Earlier, the prosecution proposed bail of RM15,000 with a RM10,000 deposit, but the defence suggested RM2,000 instead.
The defence counsel also informed the court that the accused is currently employed as an engineer at another private company.
-NewStraitsTime