Suspended JAIPS officer charged with making false claims

Suspended JAIPS officer charged with making false claims

KANGAR: An assistant Islamic affairs officer pleaded not guilty at the sessions court here today to three charges of submitting false claims totalling RM135,000 in connection with the re-registration of converts between 2022 and 2024.

Nurhelmy Norman, 29, who has been suspended and is currently working as an e-hailing driver, entered his plea before judge Nu’aman Mahmud Zuhudi.

According to the charges, he is accused, in his capacity as an assistant Islamic affairs officer (Grade S29) in the dakwah division of the Perlis Islamic affairs department (JAIPS), of using documents with false details to deceive his principal.

The charges involve claims for the re-registration of two converts amounting to RM3,500 in 2022, 15 individuals totalling RM40,000 in 2023, and 33 individuals totalling RM91,500 in 2024.

The “re-registration” of converts refers to the Islamic authority’s process of entering an already officially registered conversion from another state or abroad into its own muallaf register.

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All the offences were allegedly committed at the JAIPS office at Kompleks Islam Perlis, Persiaran Jubli Emas.

The charges were framed under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and are punishable under Section 24(2) of the same Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of no less than five times the value of the false claims, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.

The court allowed the accused bail of RM12,000 with one surety and ordered him to report to MACC once a month pending the conclusion of the case.

The court set May 20 for mention and document submission.

The prosecution was conducted by MACC deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Fariz Abdul Hamid, while the accused was represented by lawyer Siti Salwa Ja’afar.