Sungai Rambai assemblyperson Hasan Abd Rahman and a clerk pleaded not guilty in the Ayer Keroh Sessions Court today to 34 counts of criminal breach of trust involving RM318,400 in the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) fund.

Hasan, 57, and Khuzaimah Abdullah, 34, then a clerk at the Sungai Rambai Development and Coordinating Committee (Japerun) office, made the plea after the charges were read out to them separately before judge Mohd Nasir Nordin.

The charges against Hasan were that he, having been entrusted with the 2016 NBOS fund for a farming and deer rearing project, had committed CBT by signing 34 cheques totalling RM318,400, which was not received by the project recipients.

He was alleged to have committed all the offences at the Japerun office, Sungai Rambai Rural Transformation Centre in Jasin between Feb 20, 2017, and Jan 17, 2018.

Meanwhile, Khuzaimah was charged with abetting Hasan in committing the CBT at the same place and time.

Hassan was charged with committing the offences under Section 406 of the Penal Code and Khuzaimah under Section 109.

They face imprisonment for up to 10 years, whipping and a fine if found guilty.

Nasir allowed Hasan and Khuzaimah bail of RM50,000 each, and also ordered them to surrender their passport to the court. He set Aug 20 for mention.

Deputy public prosecutor Gan Peng Kun prosecuted, while Hasan was represented by lawyers Hamidi Mohd Noh and Mohd Haziq Razali, and Khuzaimah by lawyers Ahmad Faiq Azizan and Muhammad Nor Izzat Nordin.

- Bernama