BUTTERWORTH: A former headmaster was charged at the Special Sessions Court for Corruption here today with eight counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM35,500.
Chan Thye Choon, 61, who used to serve a primary school in George Town, claimed trial to all the charges, which was read to him before Judge Ahmad Azhari Abdul Hamid.
On the first seven counts, Chan was alleged to have committed the offences, involving payments for rental of the school's field totalling RM15,500, at a bank between Nov 10, 2015 and Dec 8, 2016.
For the final charge, he was accused of receiving four cheques totalling RM20,000 for the school's field rental fee from Syarikat Visi Nusajaya Sdn Bhd between Jan 19, 2017 and March 7 the same year at a bank in George Town.
He was charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code which provides for a jail term of not less than two years and not more than 20 years, with whipping and fine, if found guilty.
The accused was also offered eight alternative charges under Section 403 of the Penal Code where he can be jailed for not less than six months and not more than five years, with whipping and fine, upon conviction.
Prosecution officer from the Malaysian-Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) was Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin. The accused was not represented.
Ahmad Azhari allowed bail at RM2,500 for each charges and the accused was told to report himself to the MACC office during the first week of the month and also surrender his passport to the court.
The case was fixed for mention and document submission on Feb 28, and also for the accused to appoint a counsel.