7 weeks’ jail for ex-executive director of madrasah who misappropriated over $68k of its money

SINGAPORE - A former executive director of a madrasah or Islamic religious school was on Sept 18 sentenced to seven weeks’ jail for pocketing royalties linked to religious textbooks and misusing a computer system.

Razak Mohamed Lazim pleaded guilty to one count of misappropriating $68,629, and he committed the offence from February 2020.

He also admitted to a single charge of misusing a computer system linked to the Madrasah Irsyad Zuhri Al-Islamiah in Braddell Road.

Three other charges of misusing a computer system were considered during his sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Bryan Wong also applied for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal for the 59-year-old’s three pending charges, including two counts of cheating. Wong did not reveal the reasons behind the decision to do so.

District Judge Kamala Ponnampalam granted the application on Sept 18.

Those given such a discharge can still be prosecuted for the offences if relevant information or evidence were to emerge later.

The court heard that Razak also used to be the chairman of the madrasah’s management committee. In 2014, the committee decided that the madrasah should move its international projects to a company called Irsyad Trust Limited (ITL).

The company was established by the committee earlier.

According to court documents, the international projects broadly promoted Islamic education and supported capacity building of Islamic schools in the region.

The prosecutors said that for many years, the madrasah developed a series of textbooks which were used as part of its teaching curriculum.

Razak was directly involved in the development of these books, but in January 2016, he resigned from the madrasah and became ITL’s executive director.

In April 2017, the madrasah appointed a company called Key-Orient Lamitec (KOL) as the sole and exclusive distributor of the books.

As part of an agreement, the madrasah would receive royalty payments from KOL, which was also entitled to enter into arrangements with other entities to market and distribute the books.

In June 2018, ITL entered into an agreement with KOL in which ITL was given the exclusive rights to promote, market, sell and distribute the textbooks.

A content licence agreement was later signed between KOL and Cambridge University Press India.

Under this agreement, KOL granted Cambridge the right to print and publish the textbooks exclusively for the Maldives government.

In return, Cambridge would pay a content development fee to KOL.

Between January 2019 and February 2020, Cambridge paid KOL $205,888 for the use of the master copy of the textbooks.

KOL was obligated to pay $116,671 to ITL and $68,629 to the madrasah.

In an e-mail dated Feb 5, 2020 to a KOL employee, Razak directed KOL to transfer the royalties, totalling $185,300, to ITL.

Two days later, KOL transferred the amount with the understanding that ITL would transfer $68,629 to the madrasah.

However, the amount was not transferred.

At ITL’s board of directors meeting on Feb 15, 2020, Razak told the other directors that ITL “has made annual contributions of $20,000 since 2017” to the madrasah.

He said that the board should resolve to “make a donation to $70,000” to the madrasah.

The DPPs said: “However, (Razak) failed to take steps to make payment to the madrasah until Feb 22, 2022, when he prepared a cheque of $70,000 issued by ITL.”

The money included the sum of $68,629 which he misappropriated.

The crime was uncovered when the Commercial Affairs Department launched a probe into Razak’s financial dealings with the madrasah.

Separately, Razak, who was a senior director at the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) from 2011 to January 2016, was convicted of one count of misusing a computer system linked to the madrasah.

He did this after he left MUIS and the school.

MUIS has oversight over the madrasah, and while in MUIS, Razak was tasked to manage the school’s affairs.

According to court documents, Razak wanted to access the computer system to continue receiving e-mails that were sent to his personal address linked to the madrasah.

The DPPs said that he was no longer entitled to access the e-mail server or use the e-mail address.

There is no evidence this offence caused any of losses or damage.

Razak has since made full restitution linked to the $68,629.

On Sept 18, defence lawyer Aristotle Eng told the court that Razak intends to file an appeal, and his bail has been set at $30,000.