Papagomo claims trial to misusing company to accept public funds

 

Blogger Papagomo has claimed trial against an offence under Rule 17A(1)(b) of the Registration of Businesses Rules 1957 for allegedly accepting public funds via Invoke Solutions without updating the company’s registered details.

According to the charge sheet, the company, which Wan Azri Wan Deris (Papagomo) was responsible for, was previously registered via Borang A (Kaedah 3) as an event management and retail goods company.

Borang A (Kaedah 4) is a business registration form for a sole proprietorship or partnership business under the Companies Commission of Malaysia.

The former Umno Youth exco was alleged to have accepted public funds, which were meant to help him pay off damages in a civil suit filed against him in 2013, between Oct 24 and Nov 30, 2017, via the company, without updating its information.

The offences are punishable under Section 12A of the Businesses Registration Act 1956, which carries a maximum RM10,000 fine or a maximum one-year jail sentence or both.

Wan Azri pleaded not guilty before magistrate Illi Marisqa Khalizan this morning.

The court, after hearing mitigation factors from deputy public prosecutor Anas Mahadzir and Wan Azri’s lawyer, Amirul Arrasyid, set the accused’s bail at RM2,500 and fixed Jan 30, 2026, for case mention.

Earlier, Anas suggested that the court consider RM5,000 bail for Wan Azri, while the latter’s lawyer argued for a lower amount of RM2,500, over several factors, including that he is his family’s sole breadwinner with no fixed income.

Malaysiakini understood that the case complaint, which led to Papagomo’s charge today, was made by former economy minister Rafizi Ramli.

The 2013 case 

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had filed a defamation suit against Papagomo in 2013 over the latter’s blogpost that featured explicit photos of the PKR president allegedly being intimate with a man.

The blogger was ordered to pay RM800,000 in damages, as well as RM500,000 in costs, to Anwar in 2014 after the High Court found that he maliciously defamed Anwar.

The Court of Appeal upheld this verdict in 2015, after finding that the lower court correctly ruled that Wan Azri committed libel against Anwar. - Mkini