Seputeh MP Teresa Kok’s former special officer, Edmund Teoh Kheng Yaik, pleaded not guilty to cheating and corruption charges at Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court this morning.

Teoh (above), 40, was accused of cheating Kok sometime in June 2024 by claiming that there were only two schools within her constituency that had applied for interactive smart board funding and related equipment, when in fact, 16 schools had applied.

The charge sheet detailed that if Teoh had not deceived Kok, she would not have ordered him to file the application through the MyKhas system under the Mesra Rakyat Parliament Seputeh project.

The charge was framed under Section 471 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum of five years in jail or a fine, or both.

In the second charge, Teoh was accused of receiving a RM500,000 bribe on Aug 12, 2024, at the Shell Jalan Kuchai Maju parking lot from Ainuddin Aminuddin as an inducement to help the latter obtain contributions to supply the interactive smart boards to 16 schools in the Seputeh constituency via TMT IT Solutions owned by Ainuddin’s wife.

Teoh’s second charge was framed under Section 16(a)(A) of the MACC Act 2009, which carries a maximum of 20 years in jail, or a fine of at least five times the bribe amount, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

The accused claimed trial to the charges before judge Suzana Hussin this morning.

RM150k bail proposed

Deputy public prosecutor Julaila Jamaluddin said that both offences were not bailable.

However, she added that the court can use its discretion to order bail and suggested RM150,000 bail for the accused.

Julaila also suggested an additional bail condition, for the court to confiscate Teoh’s passport and for him to report himself to the MACC office once a month.

Teoh’s lawyer, MN Low, in reply, submitted that the accused works as a parcel delivery rider, earning around RM3,000 to RM4,000 a month, and is prepared to pay RM30,000 bail.

The judge then ordered RM60,000 bail, with additional conditions of confiscating Teoh’s passport and for him to report himself to the MACC office every first week of every month.

She also set July 3 for mention.

On March 6 last year, Kok, who was the then-DAP vice chairperson, revealed that the MACC had arrested two of her former staff, including Teoh, who previously managed finances and constituency funds at her service centre before resigning in 2024.

Teoh later resigned as the Federal Territories DAP publicity secretary after coming under MACC’s radar for allegedly taking bribes in connection with the supply of interactive smart boards to several schools in Kuala Lumpur.

M'sia faces credibility, cronyism and climate crises

M'sia faces credibility, cronyism and climate crises