The courts ordered both prison sentences against the former Malaysian Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii) CEO Madani Sahari to run concurrently from today, Bernama reported.
In the first court, judge Rozina Ayob sentenced Madani, 57, to one year in prison and fined him RM100,000 after he pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of deceiving MARii’s board of directors into believing that the price offered by LPS Learning Platform to conduct training was RM6.4 million, when the actual price was only RM2.3 million.
This led the board to award a RM6.4 million contract to the company, appointing it as a training provider for the central, east coast, southern and East Malaysian regions.
Rozina also ordered Madani to serve an additional three months in prison if he fails to settle the fine.
The offence was committed in a meeting room at a hotel on Jalan Stesen Sentral Dua, Kuala Lumpur, between 10.50am and 3.35pm on Dec 14, 2019.
The charge was framed under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years, whipping and a fine, if found guilty.
In a second sessions court, judge Suzana Hussin sentenced Madani to one year in prison after he pleaded guilty to another alternative charge of receiving RM5 million in cash for himself from a 49-year-old man at a bank in Section 15, Shah Alam on July 8, 2021.
Suzana also ordered RM3.4 million of Madani’s assets to be confiscated.
He was charged under Section 165 of the Penal Code, which provides for a maximum imprisonment of two years, a fine, or both, upon conviction.
The 41 initial main charges under Section 403 and Section 420 of the Penal Code, Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act, and Section 4 of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 against Madani were taken into consideration.
Deputy public prosecutors Law Chin How, Asraf Tahir, Haresh Prakash Somiah, Nurul Atiqah Alias and Noor Syafina Radzuan handled the prosecution, while Madani was represented by Azizul Shariman and Ariff Azami Hussein.