JOHOR BAHRU, Sept 8 — A 50-year-old contractor was fined RM20,000 by the Sessions Court here today after pleading guilty to two charges of using false documents to obtain a road resurfacing and drainage upgrade project under a Felda scheme worth RM5 million about three years ago.

Wan Shahrinizam Wan Ibrahim pleaded guilty to the two charges after they were read to him through an interpreter before Judge N. Kanageswari.

Kanageswari imposed a fine of RM20,000 for the two charges and ordered the accused to serve three months in prison for each charge if he failed to pay the fine.

The accused paid the fine.

According to the first charge, Wan Shahrinizam dishonestly used a document he knew to be false as genuine, namely bank account statements for November 2022 to January 2023 belonging to a company, which he instructed an officer to submit through the Felda e-Procurement System.

The documents were submitted as part of an application for a RM5 million project to resurface a village road and upgrade the drainage system at Felda Ciku 3, Gua Musang, Kelantan.

For the second charge, the accused dishonestly submitted documents he knew to be fake as genuine, namely a Letter of Acceptance of Tender for resurfacing works with premix and repairs to the drainage system at Jalan Parit Yaani and Parit Botak, Batu Pahat, as well as related works.

He had instructed the same officer to submit the documents through the same system for the same application.

A Letter of Acceptance of Tender is a formal written notice sent by a project owner or client to a contractor confirming that their bid or tender has been successful and creating a legally binding contract.

Wan Shahrinizam was charged with committing the offences at premises in Jalan Watan, Taman Desa 3, Parit Setongkat, Muar, in February 2023.

He was charged under Section 471 of the Penal Code (Act 574) for fraudulently or dishonestly using a forged document as genuine, an offence punishable under Section 465 of the same Code.

The offence carries a maximum jail term of two years, or a fine, or both upon conviction.

However, the court accepted the representation as a Take Into Consideration (TIC) against another related charge submitted by lawyers Azalea Nazihah and Muhammad Denial under Section 171A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy public prosecutor Irna Julieza Maaras appeared for the prosecution.