A former senior director of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) was sentenced to seven weeks’ jail on Friday (18 September) for misappropriating more than S$68,000 meant for a religious school he previously managed.
Razak Mohamed Lazim, 59, also admitted to accessing the religious school’s email server without permission after he had left his position there. He will be appealing the sentence, according to his lawyers.
Funds Meant For Madrasah Were Not Transferred
Razak managed Madrasah Irsyad Zuhri Al-Islamiah while working at MUIS between 2011 and January 2016.
After leaving MUIS, he became an executive director of Irsyad Trust Limited (ITL), a company linked to the madrasah’s management committee. This role allowed him to make transactions from ITL’s bank account.
The case involved royalty payments from textbooks developed by the madrasah.
A publisher had paid S$205,888 to a company that had agreements with both the madrasah and ITL. Under the arrangements, S$68,629 was meant to go to the religious school.
However, Razak instructed the publisher to transfer both ITL’s and the madrasah’s portions, totalling S$185,300, to ITL for direct disbursement. The madrasah’s share was not transferred to the school at that point.
The prosecution said the amount was significant as the funds belonged to MUIS, a public agency. The judge rejected the defence’s argument that the failure to transfer the money was merely an oversight, noting that the matter had been raised multiple times.
The funds were eventually returned after investigations began. Court documents showed that Razak transferred S$70,000 from ITL’s account to a third party and a settlement was later reached over the repayment.
Also Accessed School Email Server Without Permission
Separately, Razak admitted to accessing the madrasah’s email server after he had resigned.
While he was previously involved with the school, he had “super user” access rights that allowed him to configure email accounts. In 2019, he used those rights to create a new email account and set instructions for copies of emails sent to his old address to be forwarded elsewhere.
The court heard that he no longer had permission to access the server or make those changes after leaving his position.
The prosecution sought two to three months’ jail, while the defence asked for a fine. District Judge Kamala Ponnampalam sentenced Razak to seven weeks’ jail, noting the persistence of the offences and rejecting the suggestion that the funds issue was simply an administrative mistake.
