Former fire and rescue station chief in Pahang freed on charges of using position for gratification

KUANTAN, Jan 6 — A former fire and rescue station chief was acquitted and discharged by the High Court here today on 10 charges of awarding a food supply contract worth RM36,279.69 to a company owned by his wife.

Judge Samry Masri ordered Sheikh Hassan Sheikh Zainuddin, 61, to be freed after allowing his appeal to set aside the conviction and sentence imposed by the Sessions Court.

Syeikh Hassan was charged with using his position as the Peramu Fire and Rescue Station Chief for gratification by awarding contracts to Puncak Cahaya Azam Enterprise, which is owned by his wife, for the supply of food for various programmes held at the station between March 2014 and Aug 3, 2015.

The contracts were worth between RM1,075 and RM7,500 each.

He was charged under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act, which carries an imprisonment for up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the sum or value of the gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if found guilty.

On March 16, 2022, the Sessions Court sentenced Sheikh Hassan to a total of 180 months’ jail and a fine amounting to RM194,062.10, in default 60 months’jail, for the offence.

During today’s proceedings, Sheikh Hassan was represented by lawyer G. Ravishankar, while MACC Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Asraf Mohamed Tahir appeared for the prosecution. — Bernama