A Brunei Court has ordered a 31-year-old Bangladeshi who used a forged safety skills certificate in a job application to settle a 2,500 Bruneian Dollar (BND) fine or face four weeks’ imprisonment in default of payment.

Magistrate Hajah Noor Amalina binti Dato Paduka Haji Alaihuddin on Wednesday heard from DPP Dayangku Didi-Nuraza binti Pengiran Haji Abdul Latiff that the defendant, Sumon Mallik, on April 17, 2018, attended a job interview at Borneo Systematic Sdn Bhd in Kuala Belait.

At the interview, the defendant submitted a certificate of attendance and completion for a ‘Safe Erection and Dismantling of Basic Scaffolds (Part A)’ Course from January 23 to 28, 2018, purportedly issued by Megamas Training Company Sdn Bhd. The certificate is a requirement to apply for a job as a scaffold builder at the company.

Having taken into consideration the certificate submitted by the defendant, Borneo Systematic Sdn Bhd offered the defendant a job, which he accepted. He began work in May but resigned on September 4, 2018.

On September 12, as part of Borneo Systematic Sdn Bhd’s due diligence, an enquiry was made to Megamas Training Company Sdn Bhd to confirm whether the certificates previously submitted to them were genuine. It was discovered that the defendant had never undergone the course, and no such certificate was issued to the defendant.

On September 13, Megamas Training Company Sdn Bhd called the defendant to its office to ask where he had obtained the certificate. The defendant said he had bought the certificate from an Indonesian national.

A police report was immediately lodged by Megamas Training Company Sdn Bhd and the defendant was taken to the Kuala Belait Police Station for investigations.

During investigations, the defendant said he obtained the certificate on February 15, 2018, after paying an Indonesian BND100 to forge the certificate for him.

He had given the Indonesian a copy of his passport for the relevant details to be included into the certificate. He also said that he was worried that he would get caught using the forged certificate, and had therefore resigned from his job.

Copyright: Borneo Bulletin/ Asia News Network (ANN)