KUANTAN: A former private college chief executive officer was fined RM15,000 by the Sessions Court today after he pleaded guilty for issuing a forged academic transcript and certificate eight years ago.
Amran Mustaffa, 58, who was slapped with two alternative charges pleaded guilty before judge Datuk Ahmad Zamzani Mohd Zain.
The father-of-11 was first charged with receiving a payment amounting RM3,000 on Oct 21, 2015 followed by RM2,000 on Oct 24, 2015 in the second count.
He had dishonestly used fake academic transcripts and certificates for the college's Foundation in Science programme to obtain the RM5,000 from a woman.
Amran pleaded guilty to committing both the offence, under Section 471 of Penal Code, at a financial institution in Jerantut on Oct 21 and 24, 2015 respectively.
Under Section 471 of the Penal Code, punishable under Section 465 of the same act, which provides a jail term of up to two years or a fine or both, upon conviction.
In mitigation, lawyer Ariff Azami Hussein said his client, a first time offender, has 11 children aged between three and 32 years old.
"He left his job at the college in 2017 and now manages a small business to support the family but does not have a fixed income. Amran has given full cooperation to the authorities since 2017 until he was produced in court in April last year," he said.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission deputy public prosecutor Riifah Izzati Abdul Mutalif told the court to consider the seriousness of the offence committed by Amran.
"The accused had used a fake academic transcript and certificate which does not only tarnish the image of the country but the good name of the academic institutions. The court's decision must not only serve as a punishment to the accused but educate and remind the public regardless of their background to not commit a similar act in the future," she said.
Ahmad Zamzani ordered Amran to pay RM7,000 for the first offence and RM8,000 for the second offence.
He instructed Amran to serve six months in jail for the first and second charge separately if he failed to pay the fine.