KUALA LUMPUR (May 11): DAP bigwig Teresa Kok's ex-aide has been charged with cheating and graft over interactive, digital whiteboards for a handful of schools in the Seputeh area.
Appearing before Sessions Court judge Suzana Hussin on Monday, Edmund Teoh Kheng Yaik, 39, claimed trial to the two charges against him.
For the first charge, Teoh is accused of cheating his former boss, Seputeh parliamentarian Kok, around June 2024 into believing that only two schools applied for interactive smart board aid, when there were actually 16 schools that applied for the said aid.
By such deception, Teoh was accused for having intentionally induced Kok to agree to make an application for the said contribution through the My-Khas system for the "Mesra Rakyat Parlimen Seputeh" project.
The charge is punishable under Section 417 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of up to five years, a fine, or both.
As for the second charge, Teoh is accused of receiving a RM500,000 bribe on Aug 12, 2024, from Ainuddin Aminuddin for his wife's company TMT IT Solutions to secure the supply of the interactive smart boards and related gear for the 16 schools.
The charge is framed under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.
Should he be found guilty, Teoh faces a jail term of not more than 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
Bail set at RM60,000; case comes up again in July
The judge set bail at RM60,000 with one surety and ordered Teoh to surrender his passport to the court. Teoh is also required to report to MACC offices monthly and to not disturb the prosecution witnesses.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Julaila Jamaluddin said this was a non-bailable offence but left it to the court's discretion. She suggested bail at RM150,000.
Teoh's counsel MN Lo argued that her client has been cooperative through the authorities' investigations and attended court on his own volition on Monday.
She added that her client is married and has a child in primary school. Teoh, she said, supports his family by being a courier with Lalamove and only earns RM3,000 to RM4,000 a month.
The lawyer asked for bail to be set at RM30,000.
The case will be mentioned again on July 3.