SHAH ALAM: Former Malaysian Institute of Road Safety (Miros) director Datuk Dr Khairil Anwar Abu Kassim has claimed trial to four charges of document forgery in 2017.
Khairil, 47, pleaded not guilty after the charges were read to him before Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Sessions Court Judge Justice Awang Kerisnada Awang Mahmud.
He was accused of forging tender documents from four companies for the supply of vehicles.
For the first charge, he was alleged to have forged tender documents from Bright Ability Sdn Bhd for the procurement of two units of Suzuki Carry 600 cc and two Cherry Transcab 1.1 litre pickup trucks from Thailand to Miros Crash Lab in Melaka with the intention to cheat.
For the second, third and fourth charges, he was alleged to have forged documents from the same vehicles to the same lab from three respective companies; Perantice Land Sdn Bhd; Tanjung Nova Sdn Bhd; and Winntrack Auto.
The four charges are framed under Section 468 of the Penal Code for forging documents for the purpose of cheating, which provides for imprisonment of up to seven years and a fine upon conviction.
Khairil is still a government servant working at Miros to date and the court was informed that most of the witnesses are from the agency.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Fadhly Mohd Zamri had informed the court that the offence is a non-bailable offence.
However, he proposed RM100,000 bail on the accused with one surety and for the accused to surrender his international passport if the court wanted to use their discretion due to the nature and the gravity of the offence.
Lawyer Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent who represents the accused had asked for a RM20,000 bail as he had cooperated with the investigation and had reported to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission every month since October 2022.
Awang then set RM50,000 for bail with one surety with five conditions.
This includes surrendering his passport of any form- including international or limited passports- and reporting to MACC headquarters in Putrajaya on the first working day of every month and that he would have to attend all court proceedings.
"In making this decision, I have added certain conditions to reduce the possibility of tampering of evidence as the accused is still working for the office and the office is the subject matter (of the offence).
"The accused cannot in any way or matter contact any witnesses directly or indirectly through any app or third-party excluding the investigation officer for official investigation purposes.
"The accused is also not allowed to access any office computer storage or have access or see any office-related documents," he said, adding that the order would be extended to Miros.
The court has set Nov 21 for mention.