Civil servant freed from 14 corruption charges
Awang Saifudin (left) shakes hands with his counsel Zahir after winning his appeal on Wednesday.
KOTA KINABALU (May 7): A High Court here on Wednesday overturned a conviction and sentence of a civil servant and freed him from 14 corruption charges.
Justice Datuk Celestina Steul Galid reversed Awang Saifudin Jumat's jail sentence and a total fine of RM255,000 when allowing his appeal against conviction and sentence on Wednesday.
On May 3, 2024, a lower court sentenced Awang Saifudin to a total of 14 years' jail and the said amount of fines for the 14 charges after a full trial.
The lower court judge sentenced him to one year's imprisonment for each of the charges but all the jail sentences were ordered to be served concurrently which he will only serve one year's jail.
However, at the lower court, Awang Saifudin obtained a stay of his execution pending Wednesday's appeal.
As for fine punishment, the lower court fined Awang Saifudin between RM10,000 and RM37,000, in default, a total of 53 months behind bars.
The charges stated that Awang, as an executive officer (Grade 41) at the Putatan District Council, had corruptly accepted a total of RM50,500 from a woman as an inducement to grant her the repair, supply and service work contract for the Council for 2016 to 2018.
The alleged said money was allegedly deposited into Awang Saifudin's bank account between November 15, 2017 and February 26, 2018 at a bank branch in Putatan.
The charges were under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act.
During trial, the prosecution had called 18 witnesses to testify against Awang Saifudin since it commenced in June 2023.
Awang Saifudin, who opted to give unsworn evidence, had produced three witnesses, including himself to testify for his defence.
Counsel Zahir Shah represented Awang Saifudin.
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