USM lecturer, sibling jailed three years for abuse of power, abetment

BUTTERWORTH: A Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) lecturer was sentenced to three years in prison and fined RM807,475 by the Sessions Court here today for abusing his position by approving his younger brother's company to supply various goods to the university.

Judge Zulhazmi Abdullah meted out the sentence to Professor Badaruddin Mohamed, 57, while his younger brother Mustafa Kamal, 50, was also handed the same punishment for abetting his elder sibling.

The court came to the decision after finding that the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt at the end of the prosecution's case against the nine charges faced by the siblings.

Zulhazmi also ordered the duo to be jailed for six months if they failed to pay the fine.

However, the court allowed the application for a stay of execution of the sentence pending an appeal of the conviction.

The duo were further ordered for their passports to be impounded by the court and for them to report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office every month until their appeals were disposed of.

On Oct 30, 2018, Badarruddin was charged with nine counts of abuse of power and to obtain gratification for Mustafa Kamal, the first seven by abusing his position as USM communications strategic office director by approving his brother's company Syarikat MK Urusniaga (M) Sdn Bhd as the supplier of various items and souvenirs totaling RM153,793 to the USM communications strategic office between Sept 23, 2011 and Nov 23, 2012.

As for the eighth and ninth charges, he was accused of using his position as USM Sustainable Tourism Research Cluster (STRC) Chief to approve his Mustafa Kamal's company to supply 30 units of glass souvenirs worth RM3,450 and office biometric worth RM2,920 to the USM STRC office between Sept 5, 2011 and May 14, 2012.

For all nine counts, Badaruddin was charged under sub-section 23(1) of the MACC Act 2009 while Mustafa Kamal was charged with nine counts of abetting his brother under Section 28 (1) (c) of the same act.

Earlier, MACC prosecuting officer Mohamad Azlan Basri urged for a deterrent sentence to reflect the seriousness of the offence, while counsel for the brothers, Shamsul Sulaiman urged the court not to impose a heavy sentence as his clients had families to support.

-- BERNAMA