JKKN director, dancer plead not guilty to submitting false claim

KUANTAN: The director and a dancer of the Pahang Arts and Culture Department (JKKN) were charged in the Sessions Court here today on a charge with submitting false claims amounting to RM9,920, two years ago.

Dayang Kartini Awang Bujang, 46, and Mardziana (repeat: Mardziana) Che Mohd Amin, 36, pleaded not guilty to the charge which was read out before Judge Datuk Ahmad Zamzani Mohd Zain.

The two women were jointly charged with falsifying documents on payment instruction pertaining to the use of head accessories for a group of artistes to a company, Anas Niaga, when in fact no such service was provided by the company.

They were charged with committing the offence at the Pahang JKKN office here, on June 26, 2020.

The charge, framed under Section 468 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same code, provides an imprisonment for up to seven years and a fine, if convicted.

Ahmad Zamzani allowed the two women bail of RM8,000 with one surety each and also ordered them to report themselves at the office of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) every month, as well as to surrender their passports.

The court set Feb 22 for mention.

MACC prosecuting officer Kamariah Seman prosecuted, while the two women were represented by lawyer Datuk Syed Azimal Amir Syed Abu Bakar.

Meanwhile, the situation at the court compound became tense when a man, believed to be a family member of the accused, attempted to stop the media from taking pictures of both the accused when they arrived, escorted by MACC personnel.

-- BERNAMA