00:00A local council valuation officer was charged at the Johor Bahru Sessions Court on Tuesday
00:07with 24 counts of submitting false overtime claims during the 15th general election period.
00:14Labis District Council Valuation Officer Muhammad Fakhru Razi Abdul Razak pleaded not guilty to
00:20using the names of eight individuals to make false claims totaling 17,548 ringgit and 80 sen
00:29from October to December 2022. According to the charge sheet, the 32-year-old allegedly committed
00:36the offences at the council office's Valuation and Property Management Unit in Sagamatt.
00:42He was charged under Section 18 of the M.A.C.C. Act 2009, punishable under Section 24, Subsection 2.
00:51The offence carries a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount
00:57of the false claims or 10,000 ringgit, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
01:03M.A.C.C. Prosecuting Officer Muhammad Faizul Kamaruzaman told the court that the offence was
01:08non-bailable. However, Fakhru Razi's counsel, T. Vijaya Sandran, asked for bail of 7,000 ringgit,
01:16adding that the accused is not a flight risk. He said his client, who has been working at the
01:21council for three years, was expecting his first child. Sessions Judge Ahmad Kamal Arifian Ismail
01:28granted bail at 10,000 ringgit with one surety and ordered the accused to report to the Sagamatt
01:34M.A.C.C. office every month.
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