SHAH ALAM (June 16): A former committee member of an Islamic non-governmental organisation (NGO) was slapped with 158 charges of gratifying himself with about RM98.27 million of the organisation's funds.

Fakhrudin Abd Karim claimed trial to all charges read for over 90 minutes before Sessions Court judge Datuk Mohd Nasir Nordin on Tuesday.

Fakhrudin is accused of taking action, as the authorised signatory of Ikram Hulu Selangor's bank account, to direct the transfer of RM 81,950,000.00 funds belonging to the organisation's Hulu Selangor branch into the account of Ehsan Care Solution in which he has an interest.

He is also accused of transferring RM16,320,315.20 from the NGO's Hulu Selangor account to his personal bank account.

Fakhrudin, who turns 57 next week, is alleged to have committed the offence from Jan 6, 2021 till May 26, 2025.

Each of the charge was framed under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act, which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.

Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia (Ikram) focuses on propagation of the religion of Islam, as well as education and welfare.

Judge Mohd Nasir set bail at RM500,000 with two sureties. The accused will also have to surrender his passport to court and not disturb potential prosecution witnesses.

Earlier, leading the prosecution team, deputy public prosecutor Datuk Ahmad Akram Gharib said that this was a non-bailable offence but left it to the court's discretion.

Ahmad Akram asked for a bail of RM1 million citing the gravity of the offence, the large amount involved and the public interest in the case.

Appearing for the accused, Datuk N Sivananthan of Sivananthan Advocates and Solicitors said that his client had no issues with additional bail terms but sought the court to consider a bail amount of RM300,000.

The lawyer said that his client has 10 children and since April, all of his accounts, his family's and his companies' accounts had been frozen due to investigations.

Sivananthan added that the accused has seven companies in total and have not been able to pay his employees for the last three months.

He also stressed that there is the presumption of innocence and that his client has fully cooperated with the authorities thus far.

Case mention has been set on Aug 7.