Zulkefli Adam, 56, however, pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

In the court before judge Suzana Hussain, he was charged in his capacity as the project leader of the Research-Based Foundation For Sustainable Agriculture Entrepreneurship (Smart Rural) with five counts of dishonestly misappropriating RM32,000 belonging to the Central Terengganu Development Authority (Ketengah).

The offence, under Section 403 of the Penal Code, was allegedly committed at Maybank Berhad’s Jalan Raja Muda branch here between Sept 3 and Oct 26, 2017.

He faces a jail term of up to five years, with whipping, and is also liable to a fine if found guilty.

Suzana allowed him bail of RM15,000 in one surety for the five charges and ordered him to surrender his passport to the court.

In another court, before sessions court judge Azura Alwi, Zulkefli was charged with using as genuine a forged invoice for RM10,100 at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Kuala Lumpur on Aug 11, 2017.

He was allowed bail of RM5,000 for the offence and both the courts set Aug 11 for mention.

Deputy public prosecutor Asraf Mohamed Tahir prosecuted in both cases, while the lecturer was represented by lawyer Mazlan Mohd Zain.