SHAH ALAM, July 31 — A Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) lecturer pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court today to 18 charges of conspiring to submit false salary payment claims totalling RM38,000 for research work around 2021 to 2022.
Prof Hapizah Md Nawawi, 64, is accused of committing the act by colluding with a 28-year-old local woman to deceive four other individuals, concerning the demand for payment of research assistant salaries for research work.
It is for the research work titled 'Mechanism of Drone-Assisted Technology on Efficiency of Mass Disaster Victim Identification (DVI)' which contains false details where the research work was not carried out.
The accused is charged with committing the offence at the Institute of Pathology, Laboratory Medicine, and Forensics at UiTM's Sungai Buloh campus in the Petaling district, between April 13, 2021, to October 11, 2022.
The charges were made under Section 18 and Section 28(1)(c) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and can be punished per Section 24(2) of the same act.
If convicted, Prof Hapizah faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine five times the amount or value of the bribe or RM10,000 whichever is higher.
Earlier, MACC deputy public prosecutor Muaz Ahmad Khairuddin offered bail of RM20,000 to RM30,000 with one surety and the additional conditions to report to the nearest MACC office at the beginning of every month, hand over his passport to the court and not harass the witnesses of the case.
Counsel Shamsul Sulaiman did not reject the conditions put forward by the prosecution but requested that his client be allowed to hold a passport since Prof Hapizah attends a lot of work abroad besides requesting a lower bail.
Judge Datuk Anita Harun then set a bail of RM30,000 in a surety with the additional condition that the accused must report to the Selangor MACC Office on the first week of every month and is prohibited from disturbing the witnesses in the case.
"The court allowed the accused to hold her passport because there is no risk of escaping," she said, setting September 23 for the re-mention of the case and the submission of documents.
— Bernama
