KOTA KINABALU: A university professor walked free from the Special Corruption Court today after being acquitted on 21 charges of making false claims for research funds related to Sabah's marine life.
Sessions Court Judge Jason Juga discharged and acquitted Prof Dr Charles Santhanaraju Vairappan after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against him on all the charges under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009.
In arriving at the decision, Jason found that the prosecution had failed to establish the ingredients of the charges.
"In evaluating the evidence presented before the court during the prosecution's case, based on the prevailing facts, I found that there are doubts in the evidence presented which render the charges unproven, that the accused had submitted documents which he had reason to believe contained false material particulars with intent to deceive his principal, as set out in the charges," he said.
The court also ordered the bail deposit to be refunded and the accused's passport returned.
Charles claimed trial to all 21 charges on July 20, 2022.
He was accused of submitting claim documents, namely official receipts containing false details, to officers at the Jabatan Bendahari Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) between May 2014 and April 2017, with the intention of deceiving his principal.
The receipts stated payments of between RM300 and RM5,550, totalling RM66,190, for diving activities, boat charters to...
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