Butterworth: Former Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Prof Dr P. Ramasamy is expected to be charged at the Butterworth Sessions Court tomorrow on 17 counts of abuse of power during his tenure as chairman of the Penang Hindu Endowment Board (PHEB).

According to BERNAMA News Agency, 13 of the charges are related to the purchase of a gold chariot, while the remaining four involve the approval of two educational aid applications and two medical aid applications from the PHEB.

For the gold chariot charges, it is alleged that Ramasamy abused his position to obtain RM300,000 from the PHEB Special Allocation Account around 2019.

Regarding the remaining four charges, he is believed to have misused his position by approving the disbursement of educational and medical assistance between 2020 and 2022. The approval of these assistance provisions reportedly bypassed the PHEB committee meeting.

Ramasamy was investigated under Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, with the charges framed under Section 409 of the Penal Code.

In August last year, media reports indicated that current PHEB chairman RSN Rayer had submitted the board’s internal forensic audit findings to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). Rayer stated that the audit revealed several leads, though he did not provide specific details.