MELAKA, March 29 — A former army corporal was sentenced to 197 years and six months’ jail and 79 strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here today on 79 counts of misappropriation involving allocations for the Special Warfare Training Centre (Pulpak) in Sungai Udang Camp here, two years ago.
Judge Datuk Mohd Nasir Nordin handed down the sentence on Musa Md Dawi, 28, currently a contract worker, after he pleaded guilty to all the charges.
The ex-soldier, who was unrepresented, received 30 months jail and one stroke of the cane for each of the charge, which the judge ordered to run concurrently from today.
Musa was charged on 74 counts with misappropriating Pulpak funds meant for travelling allowance and annual leave claims through creating payment vouchers amounting to RM46,281.10 which was banked into his own account.
He was charged on three other counts involving Pulpak travelling allowance totalling RM3,067.60, which was credited into the bank account of Anuar Bolhassan.
On two additional counts he pocketed RM889.40 through the bank account of Mohd Ramdan Mohd Sani involving payment vouchers for Pulpak travelling allowance and leave claims.
Musa committed all the offences at Pulpak Budget Office, Sungai Udang Camp between April 25 and July 1, 2016.
The charges were framed under Section 403 of the Penal Code, which provides for a jail term of up to five years, whipping and a fine, upon conviction.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Irwan Shah Abdul Samat from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission asked for a deterrent sentence as a lesson to the accused and society since the latter had failed to live up to his responsibilities as a civil servant and military personnel.
According to DPP, Musa had also absconded and failed to appear in court for remention of the case and trial necessitating a warrant of arrest, aside from inconveniencing many parties and additional costs to search for him.
In mitigation, Musa said he had to support his wife and parents, who were suffering from heart disease. — Bernama
