Pemenang president Mohd Yussof Latiff said the recognition given to Dr Azhar Amir Hamzah was for his exemplary service rendered to Malaysians at large and recognition of his expertise in the field of urology.
Azhar was once the personal doctor of late PAS leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and had recently won a Maal Hijrah award in the field of medicine from Pemenang this year.
Yussof said the Pemenang committee that decided on Azhar’s award did not know about his alleged misconduct in Australia.
The offence was committed a long time ago and he was reported to have apologised, Yussof said when contacted today.
According to a Western Australia State Administrative Tribunal report, Azhar was said to have doctored patient records at the Fiona Stanley Hospital to claim for overtime he was not entitled to.
He was charged with professional misconduct during his year-long international fellowship.
The tribunal on Sept 26 ordered him to return A$7,093.57 (RM23,550) in fraudulent claims and A$11,500 (RM38,200) in costs.
Azhar had returned the amount to the hospital, the tribunal stated in its report.
The tribunal found him to have claimed overtime on 12 occasions, besides 61 recall claims between June 16, 2015 and June 15, 2016, all of which were false.
He was also found to have falsified patient records on four occasions during the same period by the tribunal.
Azhar is currently a consultant urologist with Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan.
When contacted, Azhar told FMT that the allegations against him are “absolutely untrue” and has directed his lawyers to put out a statement soon.