Headmaster gets jail for receiving RM4,400 from school canteen operator

A primary school head was sentenced to a total of eight months' jail by the Sessions Court here today after finding him guilty of accepting RM4,400 from a canteen operator.

Judge Asmadi Hussin handed down the sentence on M. Subramaniam, 56, after finding that the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubts against the prosecution's case.

Subramaniam, who was then the headmaster at Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil (SJKT) Rawang was charged with accepting the money, in cash and cheque, in return for a letter of support to extend the contract of the school canteen operator concerned.

Asmadi sentenced him to four months jail on the first count of accepting the cheque for RM1,500 at the canteen of the school between 11 am and 2 pm on Jan 30, 2014.

He also sentenced Subramanim to another four months' jail for accepting RM2,900 for the same purpose at the same place at 3.15 pm on Oct 8, 2014.

The charges were made under Section 165 of the Penal Code, which provided an imprisonment for up to two years, or fine, or both, if found guilty.

Asmadi ordered Subramaniam, who is now a headmaster at another school, to serve the jail sentences consecutively from today, but allowed a stay of the sentence pending an appeal and increased the bail from RM5,000 to RM10,000.

Subramaniam was also ordered to report himself at the Selangor office of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on the first Monday of every month pending disposal of the appeal case.

Earlier during mitigation, lawyer M. Athimulan, representing Subramaniam, said his client, who has three children, had been in the education service for about 30 years and had no previous record.

The prosecution was represented by prosecuting officer Mahamad Sukri Abu Seman (rpt: Mahamad Sukri), from MACC.

-- BERNAMA