MELAKA – The Ayer Keroh sessions court here today ordered the former assistant executive secretary of the Melaka Scout Council (MPNM) to enter his defence on 30 charges of criminal breach of trust involving rental payment of MPNM premises amounting to RM63,400, eight years ago.
Judge Elesabet Paya Wan ruled that the prosecution had proven a prima facie case against Ahmad Daniel Osman, 33, for all the charges.
“The court found that the legal presumption under Section 409B of the Penal Code argued by the prosecution that the accused had the fraudulent intention of misusing the rental money applies to all charges.
“For these reasons and referring to Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the accused is called to enter his defence against all charges,” he remarked.
The court fixed June 8, 9 and 22 for Daniel to enter his defence.
According to the charge sheet, Daniel was charged with misusing MPNM’s property, namely the rental payment for three premises amounting to RM63,400 which he used instead of crediting the payments into the organisation's account.
He was accused of committing the offence from October 15, 2015, to January 30, 2018, under Section 403 of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of not less than six months and a maximum of five years with whipping and a fine for each charge.
Twenty-one witnesses testified against the accused throughout the trial that started on Sept 13 last year.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission deputy public prosecutor Irwan Shah Abdul Samat prosecuted the case, while the accused was represented by lawyers P. Purshotaman and R. Senthil. – Bernama, March 24, 2023
