The sentence was handed down by judge Jason Juga after Saifulkahar Shariff, 56, pleaded guilty to 12 alternative charges under Section 26 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009.

Saifulkahar was accused of abusing his position by approving 12 forms for the polytechnic’s procurement department to purchase flight tickets for his family members, flying from Tawau to Kuala Lumpur, totalling RM6,797.50.

The offence was committed at the college, between November 2017 and August 2018.

The prosecution was led by deputy public prosecutor from Sabah MACC, Nurul Izzati Sapifee, while the accused was represented by Sitti Nurul Ain Sahidah Pitting and Siti Suherah Usman.

Sitti Nurul Ain asked the court to take into consideration that the accused’s guilty plea had saved the court both time and costs.

She also said her client was the sole breadwinner for his family, with four children still in school and pursuing higher education.

On Feb 24, 2022, the accused had faced 12 charges under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act for using his office to receive gratification, punishable under Section 24 of the same Act.