Anuar Safar, 54, and Shahrul Nizam Yaakob, 45, both of Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), and Jonathan Wee, 51, pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them before judge Nu’aman Mahmud Zuhudi, Bernama reported.

They are accused of submitting a document containing false information to the assistant accountant at the UniMAP treasury department with intention to deceive.

The offence allegedly occurred at the department located in UniMAP’s chancellery building between Dec 24, 2020 and Feb 17, 2021.

The document, an invoice from Interstream Sdn Bhd, was related to the supply, delivery, installation, testing and commissioning of a blockchain integrity platform e-verification software and related services, valued at RM490,000.

All three were charged under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, and face punishment under Section 24 of the same Act, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code.

If convicted, they may be sentenced to up to 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine no less than five times the value of the gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

MACC prosecuting officer S Sujatha requested the court to impose bail of RM30,000 with one surety for each of the accused.

The court set bail at RM10,000 each with one surety for Anuar and Shahrul Nizam, and RM15,000 for Wee. It fixed the case for mention and the submission of documents on Dec 9.

Anuar and Shahrul Nizam were represented by Zuhair Ahmad Zakuan, while Wee was represented by Shahidah Muslimah Roslan.