Youth and Sports official charged by MACC for misappropriating govt funds

A Youth and Sports Ministry official, Otman Arsahd was charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today on 32 counts of misappropriating government funds and falsifying documents involving almost RM40 million.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges and claimed trial.

Fifteen charges were made under Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 while another 17 charges under Section 18 (a) of the same Act.

Otman had allegedly abused his position to direct subordinates to make payments to a company owned by his son.

He was also charged with directing payments to four companies for jobs that do not exist, at the National Sports Council office between May 2, 2012 and 18 November 2015.

Deputy public prosecutor Amir Nasruddin requested for the court to impose a RM1 million dollar bail and also have Otman surrendered his passport.

The application was denied by defence counsel Mohd Farid Abdul Aziz saying that the amount was too high and his client has no source of income, as his accounts have been frozen.

Judge Ismail Allaudeen however granted bail of RM250,000 with two sureties, and ordered Otman to surrender his passport to the court until the trial is completed, along with a grant of 1.09 hectares of land.

The case will be re-mentioned on April 21.